Shakya, Mallika2012-03-192012-03-192009-10-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4275Seven 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.CC BY 3.0 IGOADVENTURE ACTIVITIESADVENTURE TOURISMADVISORY SERVICESAIRAIR TRANSPORTAIRLINE COMPANYAIRLINESAIRPORTARCHAEOLOGYARCHITECTUREARTISTSARTSATTRACTIONSBASICBEACHESBIODIVERSITY CONSERVATIONBOTTLENECKSBUILDING MATERIALSBUSBUSINESS TRAVELCAPITAL INVESTMENTCARRIERSCERTIFICATIONCHURCHCOLONIAL LEGACYCONSERVATION AREACONSTRUCTION MATERIALSCULTURAL CHARMSCULTURAL SHOWSCULTURAL TOURSCURATORSCUSTOMSDEVELOPMENT OF TOURISMDOMESTIC TRAVELECONOMIC RECOVERYECOTOURISMEMERGENCY RESCUEENABLING ENVIRONMENTENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATIONETHNIC CULTURESEXTERNALITIESFERRIESFISHINGFOREST RESERVESFORTSFRAGILE ENVIRONMENTGEOGRAPHYGUEST HOUSEHANDICRAFTSHERITAGEHERITAGE TRAILSHIGHWAYSHISTORIC ROLEHOTELHOTEL OWNERSHOTEL ROOMSHOTELSINCOME TAXINFRASTRUCTURESINTERNATIONAL OPERATORSINTERNATIONAL TOUR OPERATORSINTERNATIONAL TOURISMLAND TRANSPORTLARGE-SCALE TOURISMLEGACIESLEISURELEISURE ACTIVITIESLEISURE TOURISMLEISURE TOURISTLITERATURELOCAL CULTURELOCAL HISTORYLOCAL TOURISMLOCAL TRANSPORTATIONLODGINGMASS TOURISMMININGMINISTRY OF TOURISMMOBILITYMODES OF TRANSPORTMONUMENTSMUSEUMSNATIONAL TOURISTNATIONAL TOURIST BOARDPERCEPTIONSPERFORMANCESPOLICEPROPERTY RIGHTSPROTECTED AREASRADIORECONSTRUCTION PROJECTSRELICSRENOVATIONRESORTRESORTSRESTAURANTSRESTORATIONROADROAD NETWORKROADSROUTESAFETYSCHOOLSSOCIAL CAPITALSOUVENIRSSPORTSSUSTAINABLE TOURISMSUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENTTAXTAXI SERVICESTAXISTELEVISIONTOLLTOURTOUR OPERATIONSTOUR OPERATORSTOURISMTOURISM ASSETTOURISM BOARDTOURISM DEVELOPMENTTOURISM ENTERPRISESTOURISM ENTREPRENEURSTOURISM FIRMSTOURISM INDUSTRYTOURISM PRODUCTSTOURISM RECEIPTTOURISM RECEIPTSTOURISM SECTORTOURISM SITESTOURISM VALUE CHAINTOURISTTOURIST ARRIVALTOURIST ARRIVALSTOURIST ATTRACTIONTOURIST ATTRACTIONSTOURIST BOARDTOURIST DESTINATIONTOURIST DESTINATIONSTOURIST EXPENDITURETOURIST FACILITYTOURIST INDUSTRYTOURIST INFORMATIONTOURIST ITINERARIESTOURIST SERVICETOURIST SITETOURIST SITESTOURIST USETOURISTSTOURSTRAFFICTRAFFIC VOLUMETRANSPORTTRANSPORT OPERATORSTRANSPORT SUPPLYTRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION COSTSTRAVEL AGENTSTRAVELERSTRAVELSTRIPTRIPSTRUEVISITORSWALKINGWORLD HISTORYWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5083