www.idosr.org Attamah 63 IDOSR JOURNAL OF BANKING, ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 1(1): 63-69, 2016. ©IDOSR PUBLICATIONS International Digital Organization for Scientific Research ISSN:2579-082X IDOSR JOURNAL OF BANKING, ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 1(1): 63-69, 2016. Tourism and Economic Growths in Africa an Insight Nicholas Attamah Department of Economics Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Enugu, Nigeria. ABSTRACT Tourism is one of the primary drivers of economic growth and job creation in emerging economies throughout the world. Africa‟s unique history and natural wonders are gaining attention amid the local and global increase in cultural, heritage, and development tourism. Based on analyses of various countries‟ governance and business environments, it is clear that numerous African countries present tremendous promise to become or remain vibrant hosts for tourists, investors, and entrepreneurs, which can drive employment for low-skilled workers and economic inclusion for women and youth. A recent World Bank study classified African countries into four performance categories: “pre-emergent,” “potential,” “emerging,” and “consolidating” tourism destinations. The performance of countries was based on indicators such as the ease of doing business; the competitiveness in terms of tourism regulation, infrastructure, and resources; the tourism receipts per long- haul arrivals; the international arrival per head of population; and the forecast of growth in tourism arrivals. Tourism has since become integral to economic development policies. Several countries recently increased their efforts to advance their travel and tourism industries. Keywords: Economic, Growth, Tourism and Policy INTRODUCTION For over 30 years, WTTC has conducted research on the economic impact of Travel & Tourism in 185 countries and issues such as overcrowding, taxation, policy-making, and many others to raise awareness of the importance of the Travel & Tourism sector as one of the world‟s largest economic sectors. Tourism is a powerful vehicle for economic growth and job creation all over the world. The tourism sector is directly and indirectly responsible for 8.8 percent of the world‟s jobs (258 million); 9.1 percent of the world‟s GDP (US$6 trillion); 5.8 percent of the world‟s exports (US$1.1 trillion); and 4.5 percent of the world‟s investment (US$652 billion) [1]. The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that 3.8 million jobs (including 2.4 million indirect jobs) could be created by the tourism industry in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the next 10 years. Tourism‟s main comparative advantage over other sectors is that visitor expenditures have a “flow-through” or catalytic effect across the economy in terms of production and employment creation. During the construction phase of tourist accommodation and services, tourism creates jobs in that sector. If the country is sufficiently developed, the investment can generate demand locally for furniture and furnishings, and even for capital equipment. Tourism also generates a demand for transport, telecommunications and financial services [2]. Through consumption of local products in tourist accommodation, restaurants and food markets, and through the additional expenditures outside the accommodation, tourists stimulate demand for agriculture, fisheries, food processing, and light manufacturing products, such as the garment industry, as well as for handicrafts and the goods and services of the informal sector [3]. Estimates of such expenditures vary according to the local circumstances but can range from half to nearly double expenditures in tourist accommodation. Similarly, tourism can act as a catalyst for the development of small businesses in related production and service sectors [4]. Notably, tourism can provide an economic base for a region whose only development options are its cultural and natural resources, whether coastal, mountain, or wildlife or a combination of these. However,