In a short span of time, the penetration of e-commerce has transformed the face of hotel booking in Africa. This has facilitated the process of finding and paying for a hotel-stay since such transactions could be carried out on portable devices. A major player on the continent is Jovago.com which operates in more than 20 countries and has over 200,000 hotel listings. Founded by the Africa Internet Holding, it’s the #1 online booking website with assertive local presence in several strategic African cities.
A recent UNWTO survey shows a consistently growing tourism market which reached 56 million tourists in 2014 and has even more positive projections for the future. This renewed prospect for economic growth serves as a motivating factor for Jovago.com to be and remain a key player hence prompting its presence in Africa particularly Nigeria which is the most populous country in the region providing a larger reach through its fast-growing middle class members.
E-tourism has provided a boosting system for hotels across Africa to be seen and utilised by a wider range of customers than they could have anticipated by providing a solid link between these large as well as remote hotels and an entire world of customers through the worldwide web thus granting them a visibility that would otherwise have been impossible for them.
The 27 % increase of internet penetration in the African continent (2014 Internet World Stats) has also increased the transformative reach of Jovago.com. With the population getting increasingly internet-inclined, e-commerce is being utilised steadily and more frequently. Africa now has fastest-growing middle class in the world and its growing urban population makes it even more attractive for foreign investments.
The advent of e-commerce has made online business easily facilitated and though e-tourism has been said to be experiencing a saturation point in Europe and America, the reverse is the case for the African continent with its emerging market and high economic forecast, the e-commerce field is far from its saturation point. A 6.8% economic growth rate was registered for sub-Saharan countries in 2014 to support this point.
The prospect of African tourism continues to grow as the countries within the region are incorporating policies to improve upon the sector as a source of growth and diversification for their state economy. Governments are now more inclined to bring tourism to the fore as a major element in the state revenue – this is visible in Kenya’s Vision 2030.
About Jovago
Jovago.com is an online hotel booking service with offices in Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), Dakar (Senegal) founded by Africa Internet Holding and has MTN as one of the investors. Jovago.com, Africa’s No.1 booking portal facilitates the booking process for its users to provide them with the best hotel booking experience with fast, transparent and easy-to-use services. Jovago.com has over 20,000 local hotel listings across Africa and over 200,000 hotels around the world.
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