Travel And Tourism in Comoros

Euromonitor International's Travel And Tourism in Comoros report offers a comprehensive guide to the market at a national level. It looks at travel accommodation, transportation, car rental, tourist attractions and retail travel. It identifies the leading companies and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market, including background information on disposable income, annual leave and holiday taking habits.

Buy online to access strategic market analysis and an interactive statistical database of market size data for travel accommodation, transportation, car rental, travel retail, tourism attractions and health and wellness tourism, tourism inflows and outflows, tourism spending and company and brand shares.

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• Get insight into trends in market performance
• Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change
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Product coverage

Car rental; Demand factors; Health & wellness tourism; Tourism flows domestic; Tourism flows inbound; Tourism flows outbound; Tourism receipts and expenditure; Tourist attractions; Transportation; Travel accommodation; Travel retail

Executive summary

Insecure Political Climate Affects Travel and Tourism

Comoros is formed by three of the four main islands in the Comoros Archipelago; the fourth is the French territory of Mayotte. Located in the Indian Ocean between the African coast and Madagascar, the archipelago is richly endowed with a wide range of tourism resources comprising white beaches and clear waters full of multi-coloured coral reefs with an abundance of marine life that is the tourist main attraction. Despite these resources, the Comoros tourism industry is still at a rudimentary stage and is considered very weak compared to neighbouring competitors such as Mauritius, Seychelles, and Reunion. Chronic political instability, including more than 20 coups or coup attempts (latest coup attempt took place in March 2008) since independence from France in 1975, has been the major reason for the country’s failure to develop its tourism potential.

Demand for Tourism Increases in 2008

The travel and tourism industry in Comoros has made very little progress in recent years towards its potential. In 2008, the industry saw an increase of almost 5% in tourist arrivals. Growth in inbound tourism was driven primarily by the country’s wide variety of tourism attractions which include white sandy island beaches, the Karthala active volcano, and also beautiful ecotourism attractions with their coral reef diving and deep-sea fishing. However, the number of arrivals was the lowest compared to Comoros’ neighbours in the Indian Ocean. The majority (24%) of inbound tourists in 2008 came from France. The dominance of French visitors is attributable to their strong economic and historic relationship, which goes back centuries.

Lack of Long-Haul Flights Remains a Problem

One of the biggest challenges to tourism development in Comoros has been the lack of direct flights linking the country with major European destinations. Despite having many tourist attractions, tourist numbers in Comoros have remained low over the years due to the volatile political environment. Because of the low number of arrivals, major airlines operating in the country, such as Kenya Airways and Air Austral do not want to operate direct flights to Europe, citing unprofitability of the route for their decision. The government’s attempts to introduce long-haul flights with the now defunct Air Comores lasted just less than two years due to financial constraints. As a result, the main airport serves mainly regional destinations and receives international tourists through connecting flights from neighbouring countries such as Reunion, Madagascar, and Kenya.

Potential in “Volcano Tourism”

Mount Karthala is one of the world’s largest active volcanoes, with a 3km-wide caldera and the highest point of the Comoros at 2,361 m (7,746 ft) above sea level. The volcano mountain covers two thirds of Grande Comore and has erupted about 20 times over the past century and four times since 2005. It has for long been considered mainly a threat to the local population of the island but is increasingly recognised for its potential development and economic values, particularly for tourism and geothermic energy that could be exploited to benefit the population of the archipelago’s almost 800,000 inhabitants. The groundwork has already been laid for future promotion of the volcano and if well managed, it could boost the Comoros economy.

Investments in Tourism Infrastructure Needed

The lack of adequate transportation links and poor travel accommodation facilities are some of the challenges that will continue to affect tourism development in the future. There are three islands in Comoros, but most developments in tourism take place on the largest island, Grande Comore, where the capital city, Moroni, is located. The main airport and all the major hotels on the islands are also located in Grande Comore. This has threatened the cohesion of Comoros as the other smaller islands (Anjouan and Moheli) believe they are being neglected. The bigger issue is that there are no encouragements in foreign investment in hotels and resorts in this part of the country. Nevertheless, positive effects are expected from the reopening of a major hotel in Grande Comore and the opening of vacation complexes operated by village cooperatives in Moheli.

Table of contents

TRAVEL AND TOURISM IN COMOROS : MARKET INSIGHT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Insecure Political Climate Affects Travel and Tourism

Demand for Tourism Increases in 2008

Lack of Long-Haul Flights Remains a Problem

Potential in “Volcano Tourism”

Investments in Tourism Infrastructure Needed

KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

Economic Indicators

Government’s Role in Tourism Development

Marine Ecotourism Potential

MARKET INDICATORS

Table 1 Length of Domestic Trips: 2003-2008

Table 2 Length of Outbound Departures: 2003-2008

MARKET DATA

Table 3 Balance of Tourism Payments: Value 2003-2008

Table 4 Departures by Destination: 2003-2008

Table 5 Departures by Method of Transport: 2003-2008

Table 6 Departures by Purpose of Visit: 2003-2008

Table 7 Outgoing Tourist Expenditure: Value 2003-2008

Table 8 Forecast Departures by Destination: 2008-2013

Table 9 Forecast Departures by Method of Transport: 2008-2013

Table 10 Forecast Departures by Purpose of Visit: 2008-2013

Table 11 Forecast Outgoing Tourism Expenditure: Value 2008-2013

Table 12 Domestic Trips by Purpose of Visit and by Method of Transport: 2003-2008

Table 13 Domestic Tourist Expenditure: Value: 2003-2008

Table 14 Forecast Domestic Trips by Purpose of Visit and by Method of Transport: 2008-2013

Table 15 Forecast Domestic Tourist Expenditure: Value: 2008-2013

Table 16 Tourist Attractions: Value 2003-2008

Table 17 Tourist Attractions Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2003-2008

Table 18 Forecast Tourist Attractions: Value 2008-2013

Table 19 Forecast Tourist Attractions: Value 2008-2013

Table 20 Forecast Tourist Attractions Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2008-2013

Table 21 Health and Wellness Tourism Sales: Value 2003-2008

Table 22 Forecast Health and Wellness Sales: Value 2008-2013

DEFINITIONS

Tourism parameters

Travel accommodation

Transportation

Car rental

Travel retail

Tourist attractions

Health and wellness

Internet sales

Internet sales: dynamic packaging

Internet sales: traditional package holiday

Summary 1 Research Sources

INBOUND TOURISM FLOWS

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 23 Arrivals by Country of Origin: 2003-2008

Table 24 Arrivals by Method of Transport: 2003-2008

Table 25 Arrivals by Purpose of Visit: 2003-2008

Table 26 Incoming Tourist Receipts: Value 2003-2008

Table 27 Forecast Arrivals by Country of Origin: 2008-2013

Table 28 Forecast Arrivals by Method of Transport: 2008-2013

Table 29 Forecast Arrivals by Purpose of Visit: 2008-2013

Table 30 Forecast Incoming Tourist Receipts: Value 2008-2013

TRAVEL ACCOMMODATION

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 31 Travel Accommodation Sales by Sector: Value 2003-2008

Table 32 Travel Accommodation Outlets by Sector: Units 2003-2008

Table 33 Regional Hotel Parameters 2008

Table 34 Travel Accommodation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2003-2008

Table 35 Hotel Company Rankings 2005-2008

Table 36 Forecast Travel Accommodation Sales by Sector: Value 2008-2013

Table 37 Forecast Travel Accommodation Outlets by Sector: Units 2008-2013

Table 38 Forecast Travel Accommodation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2008-2013

TRANSPORTATION

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 39 Transportation Sales by Sector: Value 2003-2008

Table 40 Transportation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2003-2008

Table 41 Air Company Rankings 2005-2008

Table 42 Forecast Transportation Sales by Sector: Value 2008-2013

Table 43 Forecast Transportation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2008-2013

CAR RENTAL

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 44 Car Rental Sales: Value 2003-2008

Table 45 Car Rental Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2003-2008

Table 46 Car Rental Company Rankings 2005-2008

Table 47 Forecast Car Rental Sales: Value 2008-2013

Table 48 Forecast Car Rental Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2008-2013

TRAVEL RETAIL

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 49 Travel Retail Outlets: Units 2003-2008

Table 50 Travel Retail Products Sales: Value 2003-2008

Table 51 Travel Retail Products Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2003-2008

Table 52 Travel Retail Products Company Rankings 2005-2008

Table 53 Forecast Travel Retail Outlets: Units 2008-2013

Table 54 Forecast Travel Retail Products Sales: Value 2008-2013

Table 55 Forecast Travel Retail Products Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2008-2013