TOURISM SECTOR
Sierra Leone’s tourism potentials remain largely untapped. The diverse ecosystem offers attractive white sandy beaches, a tropical forest, scenic mountains, and interesting wildlife. There are also historic islands with a wide range of activities around swimming, bird watching, sport fishing, and hiking.
The government formulated a national tourism policy and a national ecotourism policy to serve as blueprints for the sustainable development of the sector and seeks to attract 20,000 international and 30,000 domestic ecotourism visits by 2025. While the government now provides visas on arrival and has reviewed the high costs of travelling to the country, the airport infrastructure has been upgraded, arrival facilities expanded and security improved.
The overall government objective is to increase revenue and jobs from tourism by promoting the international image and cultural heritage of the country, improving on the policy and legal environment, developing historic sites, skills and infrastructure, promoting marketing, diversifying tourism products, and above all, attracting investors into the sector.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
EXISTING OPPORTUNITIES
Tokeh Sand Beach Resort:
This project is an existing resort on over 2-acres of land. They are building about 50 bungalows with full amenities such as a spa and gym for high end tourists. There are opportunities for investment partners to expand the project to feed growing demand.
Eden Park Resort:
This facility is already operational and sits on 5 acres of prime beach front property in Mamah Beach. The investors are looking to expand the facilities through a joint partnership to meet international standards and growing demand and it is expected to cost approximately US $1 1.7 million.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Business Hotels:
There is a growing demand for business class hotels. Currently, the demand is not being met and in 2012 alone, there was an unmet demand by corporate visitors to the tune of 180,000 room nights or 493 rooms.
Recreational Hotels and Resorts:
Projections indicate that the tourism sector is expected to boom in Sierra Leone and its contribution to the GDP which was about 6% in 2012 is expected to remain at this high based on the increased number of visitors coming to Sierra Leone and their spending capacity. In an effort to pre-empt the boom and ensure market positioning, this is a good period to invest in non-business recreational facilities especially for group tourism.
Middle level Hotels and Motels:
With the growth of the mining sector in Sierra Leone there is an increased need for accommodation for expatriates coming into the country on short term assignments. These types of accommodations will serve the market outside of Freetown which is where most of the mining activities are taking place.
Tour Package Operations:
This concept will allow for investors to take the hassle out of travelling which is a major hindrance for Sierra Leone as a tourist destination by integrating airline travel, inland transportation, accommodation, activities and insurance in one package. There are local partners trying to operate in this space and are looking for strategic international partners with the financial and technical capacity to break open this market. Furthermore, these packages could feature ROOTS tourism deals which is a major pull factor in Sierra Leone and a unique experience given that many of the heritage sites have been well preserved.
Golfing Facilities:
There are opportunities based on preliminary market feasibility studies in operating golfing facilities in Sierra Leone. The studies showed that 6,000 travelers from Scandinavian countries would be willing to golf in Sierra Leone due to complementary sunlight. Furthermore, there are opportunities for hosting regional golf competitions that can be coincide with National cultural events such as the Lantern Parade in April and the Madengn Festival in December.
Water Sports Facilities:
A beautiful coastline provides the opportunity for a host of water sports during the dry season such as boating, jet skiing, fishing, etc.
CHALLENGES
The sector is challenged by a poor regulatory environment, weak policy framework, an outdated tourism master plan and registry, poor institutional capacity, limited access to finance, poor service delivery, inadequate infrastructure, and poor maintenance of tourist sites and corruption. There is a need to rehabilitate historical attractions, rebuild the country’s image, provide sector-specific training, and address issues relating to deforestation, desertification, sand mining, encroachment on sensitive areas, poor sewage and disposal systems, and the dwindling wildlife population, all damaging the beauty and tourism opportunities of the country.
For more information, visit website: https://tourism.gov.sl
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