Tourism in Gabon
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Tourism in Gabon is underdeveloped. Despite this, attractions include beaches, ocean and inland fishing facilities, the falls on the
Ogooué River The Ogooué (or Ogowe), also known as the Nazareth river, some long, is the principal river of Gabon in west central Africa and the fifth largest river in Africa by volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo, Kasai, Niger and Zambezi. Its wa ...
, and the Crystal Mountains. Tourists also come to see the famous hospital founded by Dr.
Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...
in
Lambaréné Lambaréné is a town and the capital of Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. It has a population of 38,775 as of 2013, and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator. Lambaréné is based in the Central African Rainforest at the river Ogooué. This rive ...
. Hunting is legal in specific areas from December to September.


History

Until recently, tourism has been neglected, replaced by the export of raw materials such as oil and wood. In 2000, however, the Gabonese government worked on developing the sector by developing luxury and niche tourism, such as bush expeditions or safari trips. The previous December, a postgraduate certificate in tourism was launched at the University of Libreville. The only thing that stops Gabon from success is corruption. The Guardian Book of Statistics rates Gabon as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. On September 4, 2002, Gabonese president
Omar Bongo El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as ...
announced that his country would set aside 10 percent of its land for a national park system. Previously, it had no organization of national parks, working with The
Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
on conservation issues. Currently, the system comprises over , surpassed only by Costa Rica in the percentage on land area, though in the latter's case the area of conservation is much smaller. These new parks are being developed for ecotourism, as an economic alternative to exploiting Gabon’s forests for lumber. The project was applauded by Dr. Steven Sanderson, president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, as "one of the most courageous conservation acts in the last 20 years."


Attractions


National parks

Gabon's 13 national parks range from regions along its coastline, where hippopotamuses play on untouched beaches, to forest clearings home to "naive" gorillas.


Statistics

In 2000, there were about 2,450 hotel rooms. Roughly 155,000 tourists arrived that year, and tourism receipts totaled about $7 million. The year before, 120,000 foreigners arrived, with only 1 percent coming for tourism, and it accounted for between one and three percent of the
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
(Gross Domestic Product). A visitor is required to have a passport and visa, except if they are from France, Germany, or several African countries. They are also to provide evidence of
yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
vaccination. The US Department of State estimated the average daily cost of staying in Gabon's capital of Libreville at $182 per day as of 2002, with expenses elsewhere in the country as low as $70 per day.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tourism In Gabon
Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...