Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

's tourist industry is underdeveloped. Despite this, attractions include beaches, ocean and inland fishing facilities, the falls on the Ogooué River

Ogooué River

The Ogooué , some 1,200 km long, is the principal river of Gabon in west central Africa. Its watershed drains nearly the entire country of Gabon, with some tributaries reaching into the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea....

, and the Crystal Mountains

Crystal Mountains National Park

Crystal Mountains National Park is a national park in northwestern Gabon. It is situated in the Crystal Mountains, between Equatorial Guinea and the Ogooué River.- External links :* *...

. Tourists also come to see the famous hospital founded by Dr. Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...

 in Lambaréné

Lambaréné

Lambaréné is the capital of the political district Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. The city counts 24,000 inhabitants and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator....

. 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

Omar Bongo

El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba , born as Albert-Bernard Bongo, was a Gabonese politician who was President of Gabon for 42 years from 1967 until his death in office in 2009....

 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

Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently manages some of wild places around the world, with over 500 field conservation projects in 60 countries, and 200 scientists on staff...

 on conservation issues. Currently, the system comprises over 10000 square miles (25,899.9 km²), surpassed only by Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 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."

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). 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

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

 vaccination. The US Department of State estimated the average daily cost of staying in Gabon's capital of Libreville

Libreville

Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a population of 578,156.- History :...

at $182 per day as of 2002, with expenses elsewhere in the country as low as $70 per day.