The World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 ranked 140 countries according to the attractiveness and competitiveness of their travel and tourism industries, and this year 35 African countries were included in the report. One of the indicators used to determine these rankings looked at how welcome tourists feel in each country.
Under the category ‘Attitude of population toward foreign visitors’, 140 nations across the world were rated according to how friendly local people are towards tourists. Three African countries made the top 10 list. In addition, the majority of the African countries made the top half of the global rankings in this category.
Morocco is the country in Africa that is considered to be the friendliest to its tourists, followed by Senegal and thenBurkina Faso. Below is a list of the African countries that made the top 50 in the global rankings.
Top friendliest/welcoming African nations for tourists
| Africa Ranking | Country | World Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morocco | 3 |
| 2 | Senegal | 6 |
| 3 | Burkina Faso | 10 |
| 4 | Mali | 14 |
| 5 | Rwanda | 21 |
| 6 | Mauritius | 28 |
| 7 | Seychelles | 29 |
| 8 | Zambia | 34 |
| 9 | Sierra Leone | 39 |
| 10 | Uganda | 40 |
| 11 | South Africa | 42 |
| 12 | The Gambia | 44 |
| 13 | Ghana | 46 |
Kenya is next in 51st place out of 140 countries, withCameroon (54th), Côte d’Ivoire (58th) and Egypt (61st) closely behind.
The world’s most friendly nation to tourists, according to this report, is Iceland.
However, not all African countries fared well in this category. Of the 35 African countries surveyed, Chad (124th) features in the last position.
