COMCEC Tourism Outlook-2018
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Tourism is a dynamic sector that is subject to political, social, environmental and technological
trends, shaping tourist preferences, skill requirements of tourism related-jobs and structure of
the tourism market. It is crucial for the Member Countries to engage in the long-term global
tourism market trends and to build sound tourism policies in order to improve their
competitiveness in the global tourism market.
There are many challenges faced by the Member Countries for developing their tourism sector
and making it internationally competitive. Challenges faced in the tourism development are
diverse as each country has its own tourism assets, level of development and national
development priorities and policies. The challenges affecting tourism performance in the
Member Countries ranges from, among others, insufficient tourism-related infrastructure and
investments, unskilled tourism workforce to low-capacity tourism administrations and lack of
safety and security (COMCEC Progress Report, 2013), as shown in Figure 6.2.
In order to address the challenge of insufficient tourism-related infrastructure and investments,
the quality and efficiency of tourism infrastructure and services need to be improved in
conformity with the international standards. To develop tourism-related infrastructure in the
Member Countries, private sector’s resources can be utilized. In this respect, Public-Private
Partnerships (PPPs) can be promoted and an enabling environment can be provided for
attracting more FDI in the tourism sector. In the case of many Member Countries, these
challenges still include the lack of technical know-how and the weak promotional activity.
Due to its labor-intensive nature, tourism sector requires a highly qualified workforce that has
a direct effect on the quality of tourism services. Despite the fundamental awareness and basic
perception of the economic importance of tourism as an industry and its positive impact as a
potential source of foreign exchange earnings and employment, in many cases there is lack of
trained tourism workforce. Thus, training programs and projects need to be developed for
upgrading the quality of workforce in the member countries.
Figure 0.2 Challenges Affecting Tourism Performance in the Member Countries
These challenges should be addressed for the sustainable growth of tourism sector in the
Member States. These are common challenges among the countries; however, each member
state should specify the high-priority challenges considering its own conditions and try to solve
the problems in the tourism industry.
Insufficient Tourism Investments and Infrastructure
Poor Tourism Planning & Product Development
Travel Facilitation Problems
Safety and Security Related Problems
Low Tourism Service Quality
Insufficient Marketing and Promotion
Insufficient Image Building and Branding