MALI: A NEW TOURIST DESTINATION?

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000543 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAID ETRD EINT EAGR ML SUBJECT: MALI: A NEW TOURIST DESTINATION? REF: BAMAKO 155 ¶1. Summary: Tourism has become Mali's third largest export after gold and cotton, showing steady growth in 2008 in spite of the global economic downturn. Malian tourism officials are optimistic about continued growth in 2009, but private sector operators say the effects of the worldwide recession are already noticeable in the number of cancelled reservations they face. Private sector operators also point to concerns about security in the north and structural issues within Mali's tourism sector, which threaten to stifle the industry's long-term growth. End summary. -------------- Tourism Grows in 2008 -------------- ¶2. In a public ceremony on July 23, Malian Minister of Tourism, N'diaye Bah, announced that tourism had become Mali's third largest export after gold and cotton. In 2008, tourism generated CFA 70 billion (USD 140 million), equivalent to five percent of the country's GDP in 2008. This news was particularly surprising in the midst of the global financial crisis, which has slowed tourism worldwide. Using data collected from Mali's airports, hotels, and restaurants, the National Tourism Board (OMATHO) reported that the number of visitors to Mali in 2008 grew 2.66 percent over the previous year as compared to two percent growth worldwide, according to the International Organization for Tourism. ¶3. During a July 29 meeting, National Tourism Board (OMATHO) Director Oumar Balla Toure echoed the Minister's optimism that, keeping in line with the recent trend, tourism would continue to expand in 2009. Citing OMATHO's key figures, Toure said the number of hotels in Mali had grown from 134 in 2001 to more than 500 in 2008. OMATHO reported the number of jobs in tourism had grown 239 percent from 2001 to 2008. In 2008, Mali saw a total of 250,000 visitors. Asked about how security concerns in northern Mali might impact tourism, Toure was adamant that events in recent months -- including the kidnapping by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) of four European tourists in January (reftel) -- posed no danger to tourists. Mali hosts a number of popular music festivals in northern areas, including Timbutku and Anderamboukane, along the Mali-Niger border. (NOTE: On June 2, 2009, the Department of State issued a travel warning recommending against all travel to northern Mali due to the kidnapping threats against westerners. END NOTE.) -------------- Private Sector Views -------------- ¶4. Private tour operators questioned the accuracy and utility of the official statistics. Without offering alternate figures, several private sector operators said the fact that OMATHO lacked autonomy from the Ministry of Tourism automatically called into question the reliability of any data, even if collected directly from the country's airports, hotels, and restaurants. Furthermore, the raw data publicized by the Tourism Ministry did not reflect the more important dimension of the multiplier effects tourism might have on the Malian economy. Djibril Taboure, owner of one of Mali's two largest travel agencies, ATS Travel, said what Mali lacked was a coordinated public-private strategy for expanding the tourism sector. The Tourism Ministry had been ineffective in targeting key consumer groups, which would attract higher end tourism with a larger impact on the national economy than budget travel, for which Mali is a popular destination. Taboure said the number of visitors to Mali may have, indeed, risen in recent years, but he attributed this to the international attention that Malian musicians and artists had received rather than as the fruit of any government effort to develop the industry. ¶5. Private sector operators said they felt the effects of the financial crisis in 2009. Reservations at ATS were significantly lower than in 2008. Similarly, Fatoumata Cisse, owner of Timbuctours and President of the Tourism Professionals Association, said she had had more cancellations this year than in the past. Taboure attributed the decline predominantly to the economic crisis, though he said insecurity in northern Mali would undoubtedly affect tourism. Subsequent to the January kidnappings, several diplomatic missions issued travel warnings urging against travel to the north, including Timbuktu, and areas east of Gao, where the four European hostages were taken. Both Taboure and Cisse said these warnings would discourage travel to previously popular tourist destinations. -------------- BAMAKO 00000543 002 OF 002 Comment: Promising, But Challenges Remain -------------- ¶8. The growth in Mali's tourism sector is a positive sign in the current global economic environment, which poses particular hardships for low-income countries. To date, Mali has been buffered from the worst effects of the crisis by its reliance on gold as its principal export, as gold prices have remained high while the prices of other commodities, such as cotton, have plummeted. But while officials tout tourism as one of Mali's growth engines, the comments of Mali's largest private tour operators suggest that this might be premature without a coordinated strategy to develop the sector. Growing insecurity in the north may also threaten Mali's nascent tourism sector, as visitors avoid the country's popular music festivals. End comment. MILOVANOVIC