Côte d’Ivoire Bets on AI to Grow Tourism, Now 8.7% of Its Economy

Côte d’Ivoire wants artificial intelligence and data to shape its next tourism push. The goal is personalised trips, one national booking site and less reliance on cocoa.

Côte d’Ivoire tourism is heading into a data-driven phase. The West African country of about 33 million is best known for cocoa, but it wants visitors to count for more.

On Sunday 27 September, World Tourism Day, Tourism Minister Siandou Fofana said the sector will lean on artificial intelligence (AI). He said the aim is a better visitor experience and a more competitive destination.

A new phase for Sublime Côte d’Ivoire

Sublime Côte d’Ivoire is the national tourism strategy and brand. Fofana said its second generation, covering 2026 to 2030, will put digital transformation at its core.

“Côte d’Ivoire must not simply endure the technological change under way, but fully integrate it,” he said in Abidjan. That was reported by Xinhua, China’s state news agency.

He said data should help officials understand visitors, personalise their trips and spread them more evenly across the country. Today Abidjan, the commercial capital on the Atlantic coast, dominates the sector.

Fofana said AI could also create jobs in data, digital marketing, digital services and tourism innovation. That matters in a country where many young people struggle to find formal work.

The money and power stakes

By the ministry’s count, Côte d’Ivoire tourism drew more than 6.7 million visitors in 2025. Fofana said tourism now accounts for 8.7% of gross domestic product (GDP).

He also said the sector generated more than 650,000 jobs between 2018 and 2025, with close to 87,000 hotel rooms. These figures have not been independently audited.

Tourism is a diversification play for an economy of about US$100 billion, according to the World Bank. The country leans heavily on cocoa exports and on Abidjan’s role as a regional financial centre.

The tourism push sits inside a wider state technology agenda. That includes a 2026–2028 digital roadmap of seven pillars and 40 projects, five of them on AI.

On 17 August 2026, the digital ministry signed a partnership with Mistral AI, a French artificial intelligence company. Mistral is to audit the national AI ecosystem, from data and skills to high-impact uses.

Who gains and who loses

Foreign technology firms are among the clearest winners. In mid-April, US company Cybastion presented Fofana with its plan for a centralised national eTourism platform.

The platform is meant to let visitors plan, book and pay for a whole stay in one place. It also includes a rating tool, and it was expected to go live by the end of 2026.

Local hotels, guides and tour operators could gain from better data and simpler payments. But they may also face pressure to adapt quickly to systems partly built and run by outsiders.

Cybastion presents the project as part of a programme to strengthen Africa’s “digital sovereignty”. In practice, that will depend on who owns and controls the tourism data the platform collects.

The great-power contest in West Africa

The AI tourism drive reflects a wider contest for influence through infrastructure, data and standards. American and European technology firms are both building footholds in Ivorian digital policy.

That pattern fits the broader scramble for African digital markets covered in Africa: The New Scramble. Abidjan is trying to attract foreign capital while keeping a measure of national control.

For France, the former colonial power, the Mistral deal adds a technology layer to old ties. For the United States, Cybastion gives a commercial presence in French-speaking West Africa.

The regional read-through

Côte d’Ivoire is the largest economy in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, an eight-country bloc sharing the CFA franc. Neighbours could copy the booking platform if it works.

The country wants to be a technology hub for French-speaking Africa. That depends on reliable electricity, internet access and digital skills, all of which remain uneven outside the big cities.

Success would strengthen Abidjan’s claim to be a regional centre for services. Failure would leave the strategy as another well-designed plan with limited delivery.

What to watch next

The immediate test is whether the eTourism platform moves from presentation to daily use. The government has not published a budget, a firm launch date or user targets.

Investors should watch for procurement contracts and data rules linked to the tourism plan. Those details will show how much control the state keeps over the systems it adopts.

Mistral’s audit findings are also due to shape which public services get AI tools first. Progress reports through 2027 will show whether the bet brings visitors and jobs, or mainly headlines.

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