As strange as it may sound and as influential as it may be, the weather is a major factor on tourism all other the world. The weather plays a decisive role in where and when people choose to travel as well as consequently being the deciding factor if people choose to travel back to that region again. Weather can also prove to be a huge factor in a countries tourism industry as we have seen this year thousands of people have been forced to cancel their holiday to Thailand because of major floods in the region. Not a day goes by in this day and age without something major happening abroad whether it’s a drought in Africa or flooding in Asia or natural disasters in South America.
Taking very extreme weather out of the equation, the tropics experience seasonal weather which makes travelling to a country ideal at times and terrible at other times. For example the best time to head on a Botswana safari is generally in the months of December to March when the dry season is prevalent. African nations don’t crumble to pieces in the ‘rainy seasons’ but the National Parks and Game Reserves do become extremely inaccessible, primarily because they comprise of mainly dirt roads.
If you are looking at climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania then this is another activity you will need to do your weather research on. Although the mountain is accessible all year round it’s dangerous climbing in the rainy season as the well-trodden paths begin to break up and rocks become very slippery. Because the majority of Africa is situated within the tropics, wet and dry seasons are a formality and when one area of the continent is in the dry season, another area will be in the wet season. For example November - March in Southern Africa is summer but with that comes the rains so booking a Namibia safari during this period is cheaper than the dry season but for a very good reason.
Although extreme weather happens in Africa quite frequently it doesn’t really affect the main areas of tourism. Somalia, northern Kenya and Ethiopia are very prone to drought conditions and 2011 saw the worst drought in the region since the 1950’s. Kenya as a destination relies on tourism so much as 60% of the country’s GDP is tourism based. If drought or in fact monsoon conditions were to impact many of the tourist regions along the coast and south of the country this would have severe implications for the country as a whole.