Tourism Stats and Friday Music Video

Before we start the weekend with a jam by Malagasy artist Y-zit, I wanted to briefly touch upon a link regarding tourism (if you would like to see a much longer take on my own recent tourism in Ethiopia, check out the previous post). The link in question is the Economist's brief note on tourism revenues (h/t A View from the Cave). This article notes that Madagascar earns a very high revenue per tourist. This is encouraging news for the tourism sector in Madgascar. The Economist explains this high receipts per tourist like this:

When calculated as the total of tourist receipts divided by the total number of arrivals, several geographically isolated countries fare well. This may be because holidaymakers will stay longer and fork out more on a long-distance trip.

So when tourists go to a distant and isolated place like Madagascar, they will spend a lot of money to make the most out of their trip. But tourism proponents should not get too excited by this study, as it merely points out the high rate of return per tourist. If you click through to the paper (pdf) that the Economist bases this table on, you will see that Madagascar's overall tourism numbers are still pathetically small. In 2010, there were 196,000 tourists to Madagascar (up from the first year of the crisis, 2009, but still no where near the pre-crisis 2008 number of 375,000). Madagascar is the fourth largest island nation in the world, and boasts unique rainforests, beautiful beaches, amazing Tsingy formations, and a vibrant culture. Yet its tourism numbers are dwarfed by the much smaller neighboring islands of Mauritius (935,000 in 2010) and Reunion (421,000 in 2010). Ouch...

Ok one more Madagascar link... It looks like one of the Bush boys has been visiting Madagascar, looking for investment opportunities. While some see his meeting with President Rajoelina as a sign of recognition for the regime, I think it is just an example of a businessman looking to invest in Madagascar's rich resources. Madagascar certainly could use more international investment, even if it means dealing with a corrupt regime. And as others are calling for an end to sanctions based on humanitarian reasons (which would legitimize this government), why not allow a businessman to explore possibilities for investment in Madagascar? Of course, the terms "Bush," "oil," and "Rajoelina" elicit strong reactions in many observers. I do enjoy the photo in the Africa Review's article, where it looks like Neil Bush was preparing to shake Andry's hand until an aid yelled at him: "Stop!"

Now to continue the tradition of featuring some of Madagascar's most popular songs from the past two years (and start the weekend on a relaxing note), here is "Fo Mijaly" (A Suffering Heart) by Y-zit