ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA 
Google has joined in the effort to revival tourism business in Africa following the impact of COVID-19 which has seen the continent loss over $350 revenue from tourism sector. To this, it has partnered the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to launch the first ever Tourism Acceleration Programme in Sub Sahara Africa, a digitisation element that would aid the recovering of tourism. This is given the fact that many people that engage the digital platform to search where and when they can travel.
The online Acceleration Programme is designed for UNWTO Member States, tourism ministers, top travel associations and tourism boards to further develop innovative and digital transformation skills.
The programme focused on insights from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. “UNWTO is committed to helping Africa grow back stronger,” said UNWTO Director of Innovation, Digital Transformation and Investments, Natalia Bayona. She further stated that: “With the right policies, training and management in place, innovation and technology have the potential to foster new and better jobs and business opportunities for tourism in Africa while improving the overall wellbeing and prosperity of the region”. Africa is said to be home to 30% of the world’s population, adding hundreds of millions of new online users every year.
Google Search is one of the places Africans go when researching and booking travel. “We’re here to help the tourism sector recover from this unprecedented crisis and emerge stronger. Our travel data insights and tools can help tourism authorities identify and understand the barriers and drivers to visit travel destinations for better tourism planning,” said Google’s Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Emerging Markets, Doron Avni.
Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of
