About ATCAF 2023

The Africa Tourism Climate Action Forum and Africa Tourism Day are initiatives of Sayari Dunia Sustainable Tourism Foundation (SDSTF), a climate action and sustainable tourism foundation that operates at the intersection of tourism, trade and sustainability for youths, women, MSMEs, communities and cities.

The Africa Tourism Climate Action Forum is a climate action conference on tourism, trade and sustainability. Africa Tourism Climate Action Forum was initiated to bring Tourism and Climate Action to the centre of discourse and to unlock the trade potentials in the green transition of the tourism industry in the continent of Africa.

The theme of African Tourism Climate Action Forum (ATCAF) 2023 is the Decarbonization and Green Industrialization of Tourism and Trade in Africa. This event holds immense significance in the context of addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development within the African tourism industry. Africa is a continent of immense natural beauty and rich cultural diversity, making it a prime destination for tourists. However, the rapid growth of tourism in Africa has posed significant challenges related to climate change, environmental degradation, and socio-economic inequality.

ATCAF 2023 aims to confront these challenges head-on by focusing on decarbonization, green industrialization, and climate finance, making it a crucial event for the continent.

ATCAF 2023 Goals

Promote Decarbonization: ATCAF 2023 aims to advance the decarbonization
of the African tourism industry by discussing strategies to reduce its carbon
footprint. This includes innovations in transportation, energy efficiency in
accommodations, and sustainable food sourcing.

Drive Green Industrialization: The event seeks to explore how the tourism
and trade sectors in Africa can embrace green industrialization, fostering
economic growth while minimizing negative environmental impacts. This
involves discussions on sustainable supply chains, eco-friendly infrastructure
development, and responsible tourism practices.

Facilitate Climate Finance: ATCAF 2023 intends to facilitate discussions and
partnerships related to climate finance. This involves exploring avenues for
investment in sustainable tourism projects, access to climate finance
mechanisms, and promoting responsible investment practices.

The event seeks to explore the tourism ecosystem and its actual and
potential linkages with regional and international trade and explore how
these can enhance green tourism industrialization.

ATCAF 2023 Objectives

Knowledge Exchange: Encourage the exchange of knowledge and experiences
among industry experts, policymakers, and stakeholders, enabling a deeper
understanding of sustainable tourism practices and climate action strategies.

Carbon Targets: Targeting climate solutions fora low carbon tourism economy
and development.

Policy Formulation: Provide a platform for policymakers to discuss and develop
policies that support the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable tourism
industry in Africa.

Private Sector Engagement: Foster collaboration between the public and
private sectors, encouraging businesses to adopt sustainable practices and
invest in eco-friendly technologies.

Community Involvement: Promote the active involvement of local communities
in tourism activities, ensuring that the benefits of tourism are shared equitably
and that communities are engaged in sustainable practices.

Networking and Partnerships: Create opportunities for networking and
partnerships among participants, enabling the formation of alliances that can
drive sustainability and climate action in the tourism industry.

Africa Tourism Day 2023
 - As Part Of ATCAF 2023

Africa Tourism Day with 2 editions held in 2020 and 2021, is an annual celebration that designates 26th of November every year as a continental day to celebrate and showcase Africa as a tourism paradise and highlights the important role of tourism in Africa as a key contributor to economies, creating jobs, improving livelihoods and bringing development to communities as well as its ability to build friendships, learning, understanding amongst cultures. It is also a platform to discuss the challenges of the tourism sector mapping plans tor its growth and development.

The tourism sector, contributes about 8% to global carbon emissions but it is also greatly impacted by the negative consequences of climate change leading to loss of lives and livelihoods, displacements, conflicts over scarce resources, migration, security, poverty and inequalities which undermine sustainable tourism development. This is a precarious situation in Africa where tourism contributes largely to the GDP of its economies.

For tourism as a sector that generates jobs and for Africa as a continent, it is imperative that we must rethink, reappraise and rejig the tourism sector and ensure climate smart interventions, solutions, innovation, finance and investments are infused into the tourism value chain to secure the future of the sector.