VZCZCXRO7794
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0543/01 2251333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131333Z AUG 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0646
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000543 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID ETRD EINT EAGR ML
SUBJECT: MALI: A NEW TOURIST DESTINATION? 
 
REF: BAMAKO 155 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Tourism has become Mali's third largest export 
after gold and cotton, showing steady growth in 2008 in spite 
of the global economic downturn.  Malian tourism officials 
are optimistic about continued growth in 2009, but private 
sector operators say the effects of the worldwide recession 
are already noticeable in the number of cancelled 
reservations they face.  Private sector operators also point 
to concerns about security in the north and structural issues 
within Mali's tourism sector, which threaten to stifle the 
industry's long-term growth.  End summary. 
 
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Tourism Grows in 2008 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  In a public ceremony on July 23, Malian Minister of 
Tourism, N'diaye Bah, announced that tourism had become 
Mali's third largest export after gold and cotton.  In 2008, 
tourism generated CFA 70 billion (USD 140 million), 
equivalent to five percent of the country's GDP in 2008. 
This news was particularly surprising in the midst of the 
global financial crisis, which has slowed tourism worldwide. 
Using data collected from Mali's airports, hotels, and 
restaurants, the National Tourism Board (OMATHO) reported 
that the number of visitors to Mali in 2008 grew 2.66 percent 
over the previous year as compared to two percent growth 
worldwide, according to the International Organization for 
Tourism. 
 
¶3.  During a July 29 meeting, National Tourism Board (OMATHO) 
Director Oumar Balla Toure echoed the Minister's optimism 
that, keeping in line with the recent trend, tourism would 
continue to expand in 2009.  Citing OMATHO's key figures, 
Toure said the number of hotels in Mali had grown from 134 in 
2001 to more than 500 in 2008.  OMATHO reported the number of 
jobs in tourism had grown 239 percent from 2001 to 2008.  In 
2008, Mali saw a total of 250,000 visitors.  Asked about how 
security concerns in northern Mali might impact tourism, 
Toure was adamant that events in recent months -- including 
the kidnapping by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) of 
four European tourists in January (reftel) -- posed no danger 
to tourists.  Mali hosts a number of popular music festivals 
in northern areas, including Timbutku and Anderamboukane, 
along the Mali-Niger border.  (NOTE: On June 2, 2009, the 
Department of State issued a travel warning recommending 
against all travel to northern Mali due to the kidnapping 
threats against westerners.  END NOTE.) 
 
-------------------- 
Private Sector Views 
-------------------- 
 
¶4.  Private tour operators questioned the accuracy and 
utility of the official statistics.  Without offering 
alternate figures, several private sector operators said the 
fact that OMATHO lacked autonomy from the Ministry of Tourism 
automatically called into question the reliability of any 
data, even if collected directly from the country's airports, 
hotels, and restaurants.  Furthermore, the raw data 
publicized by the Tourism Ministry did not reflect the more 
important dimension of the multiplier effects tourism might 
have on the Malian economy.  Djibril Taboure, owner of one of 
Mali's two largest travel agencies, ATS Travel, said what 
Mali lacked was a coordinated public-private strategy for 
expanding the tourism sector.  The Tourism Ministry had been 
ineffective in targeting key consumer groups, which would 
attract higher end tourism with a larger impact on the 
national economy than budget travel, for which Mali is a 
popular destination.  Taboure said the number of visitors to 
Mali may have, indeed, risen in recent years, but he 
attributed this to the international attention that Malian 
musicians and artists had received rather than as the fruit 
of any government effort to develop the industry. 
 
¶5.  Private sector operators said they felt the effects of 
the financial crisis in 2009.  Reservations at ATS were 
significantly lower than in 2008.  Similarly, Fatoumata 
Cisse, owner of Timbuctours and President of the Tourism 
Professionals Association, said she had had more 
cancellations this year than in the past.  Taboure attributed 
the decline predominantly to the economic crisis, though he 
said insecurity in northern Mali would undoubtedly affect 
tourism.  Subsequent to the January kidnappings, several 
diplomatic missions issued travel warnings urging against 
travel to the north, including Timbuktu, and areas east of 
Gao, where the four European hostages were taken.  Both 
Taboure and Cisse said these warnings would discourage travel 
to previously popular tourist destinations. 
 
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BAMAKO 00000543  002 OF 002 
 
 
Comment: Promising, But Challenges Remain 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  The growth in Mali's tourism sector is a positive sign in 
the current global economic environment, which poses 
particular hardships for low-income countries.  To date, Mali 
has been buffered from the worst effects of the crisis by its 
reliance on gold as its principal export, as gold prices have 
remained high while the prices of other commodities, such as 
cotton, have plummeted.  But while officials tout tourism as 
one of Mali's growth engines, the comments of Mali's largest 
private tour operators suggest that this might be premature 
without a coordinated strategy to develop the sector. 
Growing insecurity in the north may also threaten Mali's 
nascent tourism sector, as visitors 
avoid the country's popular music festivals.  End comment. 
 
MILOVANOVIC