29 September 2026
- Mauritius remains Africa’s highest-ranked country for travel and tourism development, followed by South Africa and Egypt, even though Mauritius slipped three places globally from 2024.
- Morocco made the strongest gain among African countries, climbing seven places, while Botswana recorded the sharpest decline, falling nine positions.
- Africa still occupies the lower half of the global ranking overall, with only three countries in the global Top 65 and several, including Benin, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Mali, near the bottom of the 110-country index.
Mauritius, South Africa and Egypt are Africa’s top-ranked countries for travel and tourism development, according to a ranking released September 25 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with Zurich Insurance Group.
The Travel & Tourism Development Index 2026 assesses the factors and policies that support the sustainable and resilient development of travel and tourism. It does not directly measure tourism performance, such as visitor arrivals, spending or revenue. Instead, it evaluates the conditions that determine how well a destination can attract and sustain tourism while generating economic and social benefits.
The biennial index covers 110 economies and is based on 102 indicators, including the rule of law, crime rates, the prevalence of communicable diseases, the use of digital payments, government spending on tourism, visa requirements, price competitiveness, air connectivity, water stress and the number of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The indicators draw on the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey and data from international organisations including UN Tourism and the World Bank. They are organised into 17 pillars across five broad dimensions: enabling environment; travel and tourism policy and enabling conditions; infrastructure and services; travel and tourism resources; and travel and tourism sustainability.
Quantitative indicators are normalised to a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the worst outcome and 7 the best. Each pillar is calculated as an unweighted average of its component indicators, with some pillars incorporating sub-pillars. A country’s overall score is then calculated as the arithmetic mean of the 17 pillar scores. The five dimensions are used to organise and present the results but do not determine the overall score.
Mauritius fell three places from its 2024 position but remains Africa’s highest-ranked country. The Indian Ocean island nation ranks 59th among the 110 economies assessed, with a score of 4.07. South Africa ranks 61st globally and second in Africa, followed by Egypt in 63rd place worldwide, Morocco in 70th, Tanzania in 74th, Kenya in 77th, Tunisia in 82nd, Botswana in 84th and Algeria in 89th. Namibia, ranked 90th globally, rounds out Africa’s Top 10.
Overall, 10 African countries moved down the ranking compared with 2024, eight moved up and five remained unchanged. Botswana posted the biggest drop in position, falling nine places, followed by Namibia with a seven-place decline and Tunisia with a four-place drop.
Morocco recorded the largest improvement, rising seven places, followed by Algeria with a four-place gain and Nigeria with a three-place rise.
Globally, Japan tops the ranking, followed by the United States, Spain, Australia and France. Overall, 101 of the 110 economies assessed improved their scores between 2024 and 2026. The average score rose 2.1%, the fastest pace of improvement since 2019. The gains were driven by improvements in cultural resources, tourism infrastructure and services, air connectivity and business travel.
Africa’s Top Countries for Travel and Tourism Development in 2026
59 – Mauritius
61 – South Africa
63 – Egypt
70 – Morocco
74 – Tanzania
77 – Kenya
82 – Tunisia
84 – Botswana
89 – Algeria
90 – Namibia
91 – Rwanda
96 – Zambia
97 – Ghana
99 – Senegal
101 – Zimbabwe
102 – Côte d’Ivoire
104 – Nigeria
105 – Angola
106 – Benin
107 – Malawi
108 – Cameroon
109 – Sierra Leone
110 – Mali
Source: https://shorturl.at/drtI5
