Seven years out of brutal conflict,
Sierra Leone is now a peaceful and stable country. Yet, its
strides toward economic recovery and competitiveness have
been modest even in sectors such as tourism, which used to
be a major generator of foreign exchange revenues prior to
the conflict. This paper presents a cluster-based analysis
of the tourism sector in Sierra Leone. The analysis shows
that tourism in Sierra Leone draws entirely on basic factor
conditions such as natural endowments; high-end lodging,
catering, and entertainment services are virtually
nonexistent. The cluster mapping exercise reveals that
several non-profit organizations are present and active
within the Sierra Leone tourism cluster but that the role of
commercial enterprises has been somewhat limited. A critical
mass of basic service providers has emerged over time, but
their functions are often hindered by the absence of a
market-based incentive regime and weaknesses in backbone
infrastructure services. There is a mismatch of effort by
the public and private sectors. An important policy
implication arising from the analysis is for Sierra Leone to
initiate a joint action among tourism entrepreneurs and
policymakers to develop a coherent business strategy toward
overcoming the bottlenecks of skill deficiency, policy
ineffectiveness, and lack of infrastructure and market access.
Authors and Publishers
Shakya, Mallika
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World Bank Group (WB)
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