Ramaphosa urges Africa to use tourism to reshape global image

By Simon Nare

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed to the continent to use its tourism appeal as a form of global soft power and a mirror to the world to showcase its beauty, heritage and sophisticated cultures, while correcting the negative image of Africa often portrayed by outsiders.

Addressing the Africa Travel Indaba in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said the world’s perception of the continent too often focused on negative issues such as civil wars, disease and political instability, and that the tourism industry should help reshape that image.

“And what we now need to do is to