Sector group
Tourism
With thirteen national parks, two UNESCO World Heritage sites and forest covering about 80% of its territory, Gabon is betting on ecotourism and business travel. The sector remains small, at around 4% of GDP, and the government is aiming for 600,000 tourists a year by 2029.
- National parks
- 13parks
- Share of land covered by the parks at creation
- 10%
- UNESCO World Heritage sites (Lopé-Okanda 2007, Ivindo 2021)
- 2sites
Detailed sources in the key figures below.
Key figures
Key figures for tourism
UNESCO World Heritage sites (Lopé-Okanda 2007, Ivindo 2021)
2 sites
2021
Area of Ivindo National Park
300,000 hectares approx.
2021
Forest cover
80 % of territory approx.
PNDT 2024-2026
4 % approx.
PNDT 2024-2026
Visitor target
600,000 tourists a year by 2029
2024-2029
International visitors a year (AGATOUR estimate)
200,000 visitors, slightly more than
2022
International tourism receipts (latest available)
28.7 million US dollars
2015
Marine protected areas
26.2 % of the EEZ
2017
The thirteen national parks
| National park | Province | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|
| Akanda | Estuaire | 411 |
| Birougou | Ngounié, Ogooué-Lolo | 683 |
| Ivindo | Ogooué-Ivindo | 2,967 |
| Loango | Ogooué-Maritime | 1,510 |
| Lopé | Ogooué-Ivindo | 4,942 |
| Mayumba | Nyanga | 965 |
| Minkébé | Woleu-Ntem | 7,535 |
| Monts de Cristal | Estuaire | 1,192 |
| Moukalaba-Doudou | Nyanga | 4,458 |
| Mwagna | Ogooué-Ivindo | 1,167 |
| Plateaux Batéké | Haut-Ogooué | 2,042 |
| Pongara | Estuaire | 960 |
| Waka | Ngounié | 1,061 |
Source: Parcs nationaux du Gabon (Wikipédia, d'après Protected Planet) (opens in a new tab)
Locations
- 8 provinces
- Estuaire, Haut-Ogooué, Ngounié, Nyanga, Ogooué-Ivindo, Ogooué-Lolo, Ogooué-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem
Source: OCHA / Institut national de cartographie du Gabon (CC BY-IGO)
Provinces of the listed sites: national park.
Trends
Recognised potential, still limited visitor numbers
The network of thirteen national parks, created in 2002 at the initiative of President Omar Bongo and managed by the National Agency for National Parks (ANPN), covered about 10% of the country at its creation. According to the PNDT, the country is home to Africa's largest concentration of forest elephants and to a great many species of birds, reptiles and mammals. Two sites are on the UNESCO World Heritage List: the Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda, a mixed site inscribed in 2007, and Ivindo National Park, a natural site of about 300,000 hectares inscribed in 2021.
Visitor numbers are poorly measured. The World Bank series on international arrivals stops in 2005 and its latest receipts data date from 2015 (28.7 million dollars). In 2022, according to Africa24, the Gabonese agency for tourism and hotel development and promotion (AGATOUR) cited slightly more than 200,000 international visitors a year. The PNDT 2024-2026 puts tourism at about 4% of GDP and describes its development as embryonic.
Successive strategies
In 2022 a national strategy presented by AGATOUR aimed to attract 750,000 additional tourists by 2030 and raise the sector's contribution to 7 to 10% of GDP, relying on ecotourism, business and events tourism, and natural and cultural heritage. The PNDT 2024-2026 took up this ambition with a target of more than 600,000 tourists a year by 2029, organised around six priorities: reform of the institutional and legal framework, human resources, quality of the offer, sustainable financing, tourism interest zones (ZIT) and infrastructure.
Access and protection of natural capital
Domestic air links, a condition for reaching the parks, were strengthened with the inauguration of the national carrier Fly Gabon on 29 August 2024, which announced plans to serve all nine provinces. Conservation policy extends to the sea: marine protected areas grew from 6.49% to 26.2% of the exclusive economic zone between 2016 and 2017, and the 2023 debt conversion provides for raising this share to 30%.
International tourist arrivals
International tourist arrivals (Gabon) went from 203,000 in 1995 to 526,000 in 2005.
| Period | International tourist arrivals |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 203,000 |
| 1996 | 217,000 |
| 1997 | 247,000 |
| 1998 | 274,000 |
| 1999 | 262,000 |
| 2000 | 230,000 |
| 2001 | 236,000 |
| 2002 | 269,000 |
| 2003 | 234,000 |
| 2004 | 351,000 |
| 2005 | 526,000 |
International tourism receipts
International tourism receipts (Gabon) went from 94.0 M USD in 1995 to 28.7 M USD in 2015. The highest value was reached in 1999 (143.0 M USD).
| Period | International tourism receipts (M USD) |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 94.0 |
| 1996 | 91.0 |
| 1997 | 103.0 |
| 1998 | 110.0 |
| 1999 | 143.0 |
| 2000 | 99.0 |
| 2001 | 46.0 |
| 2002 | 77.0 |
| 2003 | 84.0 |
| 2004 | 74.0 |
| 2005 | 13.0 |
| 2007 | 26.0 |
| 2008 | 26.5 |
| 2009 | 26.2 |
| 2010 | 89.0 |
| 2011 | 25.4 |
| 2012 | 39.5 |
| 2013 | 61.2 |
| 2014 | 43.5 |
| 2015 | 28.7 |
Forest area (% of land area)
Forest area (% of land area) (Gabon) went from 92.2% in 1990 to 91.2% in 2023.
| Period | Forest area (% of land area) (%) |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 92.2 |
| 1991 | 92.2 |
| 1992 | 92.2 |
| 1993 | 92.1 |
| 1994 | 92.1 |
| 1995 | 92.1 |
| 1996 | 92.1 |
| 1997 | 92.0 |
| 1998 | 92.0 |
| 1999 | 92.0 |
| 2000 | 92.0 |
| 2001 | 92.0 |
| 2002 | 91.9 |
| 2003 | 91.9 |
| 2004 | 91.9 |
| 2005 | 91.9 |
| 2006 | 91.9 |
| 2007 | 91.8 |
| 2008 | 91.8 |
| 2009 | 91.8 |
| 2010 | 91.8 |
| 2011 | 91.7 |
| 2012 | 91.7 |
| 2013 | 91.6 |
| 2014 | 91.6 |
| 2015 | 91.6 |
| 2016 | 91.5 |
| 2017 | 91.5 |
| 2018 | 91.4 |
| 2019 | 91.4 |
| 2020 | 91.3 |
| 2021 | 91.3 |
| 2022 | 91.2 |
| 2023 | 91.2 |
Main players
Main players
| Name | Activity | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Tourism | Tourism policy, regulation of tourism activities | Libreville |
| AGATOUR (Gabonese agency for tourism and hotel development and promotion) | Destination marketing, identification of tourism interest zones | Libreville |
| ANPN (National Agency for National Parks) | Management of the thirteen national parks, ecotourism and research | Libreville and parks |
| Fly Gabon | National airline, domestic routes | Léon-Mba airport, Libreville |
Source: PNDT 2024-2026; ANAC; Wikipédia (parcs nationaux du Gabon) (opens in a new tab)
Regulatory framework
Law no. 003/2007 of 27 August 2007 on national parks sets the legal regime for national parks, which are managed by ANPN. It was amended by Ordinance no. 007/PR/2017 of 27 February 2017.
Tourism activities are governed by Law no. 034/2020 of 22 March 2021 regulating the tourism sector, which sets the institutional, regulatory, economic, environmental and social framework for all forms of tourism: ecotourism, business and conference tourism, and cultural, beach, sports or medical tourism. The PNDT 2024-2026 plans to complement this framework with a tourism code, a National Tourism Council, tax, customs and land facilities for tourism investors, and visa exemptions for target markets.
Reference texts
-
Tourism sector law
Loi n° 034/2020 du 22 mars 2021 portant réglementation du secteur tourisme en République gabonaise
-
National parks law
Loi n° 003/2007 du 27 août 2007 relative aux parcs nationaux
-
Ordinance amending the national parks law
Ordonnance n° 007/PR/2017 du 27 février 2017 portant modification et suppression de certaines dispositions de la loi n° 003/2007 du 27 août 2007 relative aux parcs nationaux
Opportunities
The PNDT 2024-2026 sets ten priority actions for the sector, several of which open opportunities for investors:
- Tourism interest zones (ZIT): national mapping of land reserves for projects around tourist circuits and historic sites.
- Accommodation: restructuring of the offer and transfer of the State hotel portfolio to the Ministry of Tourism.
- Ecotourism products: wildlife habituation programmes for wildlife viewing.
- Financing: a fund dedicated to tourism investment and support for business creation.
- Domestic demand: holiday vouchers distributed by employers and growth of domestic and intra-regional travel.
- Access: visa exemptions for target markets, upgrading of aerodromes and tourist signage.
Take the next step
These opportunities translate into concrete formalities: find the ones that apply to your project, or ask the assistant.
Documents
-
National Development Plan for the Transition 2024-2026, PDF format (opens in a new tab)
Ministère de l'Économie et des Participations
-
Law no. 003/2007 of 27 August 2007 on national parks, PDF format (opens in a new tab)
ClientEarth
-
Debt conversion for ocean conservation in Gabon, HTML format (opens in a new tab)
The Nature Conservancy
Sources
11 sources cited
Documents and datasets used for this profile.
- Parcs nationaux du Gabon (opens in a new tab)
- List of World Heritage Sites in Gabon (opens in a new tab)
- Plan national de développement pour la transition (PNDT) 2024-2026, version 3 (opens in a new tab)
- Gabon : une nouvelle stratégie nationale pour attirer 750 000 nouveaux touristes (opens in a new tab)
- Gabon : le gouvernement souhaite atteindre 600 000 touristes d'ici 2029 (opens in a new tab)
- International tourism, receipts (current US$), Gabon (opens in a new tab)
- Inauguration de Fly Gabon, la nouvelle compagnie aérienne nationale (opens in a new tab)
- Transport aérien : Fly Gabon décolle la semaine prochaine (opens in a new tab)
- La loi n°003/2007 du 27 août 2007 relative aux parcs nationaux (Gabon) (opens in a new tab)
- The Nature Conservancy announces debt conversion for ocean conservation in Gabon, first ever in mainland Africa (opens in a new tab)
- World Bank (opens in a new tab) International tourist arrivals, International tourism receipts, Forest area (% of land area)
