As deal activities in the travel and tourism sector trend downward, Africa, where Nigeria is situated has recorded stability.
The year-on-year analysis by GlobalData, a data analytics and consulting company, indicated that deals in the travel industry decreased by 10.4 per cent YoY from January to July of 2024. There were 463 deals during the same period last year, compared to 415 deals during the period under review. These transactions included venture capital, private equity, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
The analysis also revealed that a large portion of the decline was fuelled by North America, which saw a decline in deal volume of 30.9 per cent from January to July 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023. The Asia-Pacific and South and Central American regions also showed year-over-year (YoY) declines in deal volume from January to July 2024 of 16.3 per cent and 42.9 per cent, respectively.
While deal volume in the Middle East and Africa largely stayed constant, Europe saw a YoY improvement in deal volume during the review period, growing by 16.8 per cent due to growth in some of the region’s major markets. Meanwhile, deal volume declined in major markets from January to July 2024 compared to the same period the year before by 30.4 per cent, 5.6 per cent, 50 per cent, 27.8 per cent, and 45 per cent in the U.S, South Korea, China, Australia, and France, respectively. On the other hand, deal volumes in markets including Spain, Germany, Japan, India, the UK, and Spain increased over the review period. The amount of M&A transactions fell 6.6 per cent from January to July 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, while the number of venture financing deals decreased by 25.4 per cent year over year. Contrastingly, there was a 21.4 per cent increase in the amount of private equity transactions.
Lead Analyst at GlobalData, Aurojyoti Bose, said that “deal activity remained a mixed bag across different regions and countries, with some of them experiencing a fall in deal volume while others showcasing improvement. And the same was the case with the deal types under coverage as well.”
Africa’s economic giant, Nigeria, has been experiencing a steady upward movement in the tourism sector as strategic policies and public-private partnerships have recently been leveraged in the country.
Tourism experts believe that as the tourism sector in the country hasn’t seen any decline yet, its objective of being the global tourism leader might be achieved through consistent efforts.
Projections posited that the Nigerian tourism market is predicted to expand yearly at a pace of 11.23 per cent, with a market volume of $5,639.00 million by 2029.
Notably, the United States is predicted to lead the world in income generation for the travel and tourism sector, with $214 billion in revenue estimated in 2024, when compared to other nations. However, the cultural and eco-tourism offerings of Nigeria, despite the lack of infrastructure and security concerns, position the country as a magnet for magnanimous tourism revenue.
