Liberia Tourist

(UNCLASSIFIED) Since the end of its 14-year civil war in 2003, Liberia has made significant progress in developing its tourism industry. The U.S. has been an instrumental partner in this regard, contributing as much as US $1 billion in bilateral assistance to the Liberian government for reconstruction purposes. Given the extent of structural and societal damage incurred during the war-era, Liberia’s most visited tourist attractions are now mostly ecological, including 350 miles of Atlantic beaches, the Sapo National Park (comprised of a sprawling tropical rainforest), and various rivers, islands, and mountains across the country. In late 2011, Liberia was granted full membership status by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, which guaranteed the country international assistance in policy drafting and development of its tourism industry. In late-2010, Delta Airlines responded to increased demand for air transport to the country by becoming the first American carrier to fly to Liberia in twenty years. In 2012, the Emerging Business Lab published a tourist map of Monrovia with directions to the city’s historic highlights, hotels, and restaurants. The map is now available online and has expanded since its first issue to include amenities such as cafes and Wi-Fi hotspots. Exact statistics on the impact of Ebola on Liberia’s tourism sector are unavailable. The U.S. Department of State issued a press release in August 2014 ordering the departure of family members of Embassy employees in Monrovia. Though the Embassy has retained its staff and additional personnel have been deployed to assist Liberian authorities, all other U.S. citizens are warned to defer any non-essential travel to the country. Given burgeoning travel restrictions and the ongoing inability of Liberian and international authorities to contain the virus, regression in Liberia’s tourism industry is likely.Attribute Table Field DescriptionsISO3 - International Organization for Standardization 3-digit country code ADM0_NAME - Administration level zero identification / name ADM1_NAME - Administration level one identification / name ADM2_NAME - Administration level two identification / name NAME - Name of tourist attraction TYPE - Classification in the geodatabase CITY - City location available SPA_ACC - Spatial accuracy of site location (1 – high, 2 – medium, 3 – low) COMMENTS - Comments or notes regarding the tourist attraction SOURCE_DT - Source one creation date SOURCE - Source one SOURCE2_DT - Source two creation date SOURCE2 - Source two CollectionThe feature class was generated utilizing data from OpenStreetMap, Wikimapia, GeoNames and other sources. OpenStreetMap is a free worldwide map, created by crowd-sourcing. Wikimapia is open-content mapping focused on gathering all geographical objects in the world. Consistent naming conventions for geographic locations were attempted but name variants may exist, which can include historical or less widespread interpretations.The data included herein have not been derived from a registered survey and should be considered approximate unless otherwise defined. While rigorous steps have been taken to ensure the quality of each dataset, DigitalGlobe is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of data compiled from outside sources.Metadata information was collected primarily from travel blogs and news media articles.Sources (HGIS)DigitalGlobe, “DigitalGlobe Imagery Archive.” Accessed October 01, 2014. GeoNames, “Liberia.” September 23, 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.geonames.org.Google, September 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. www.google.com.OpenStreetMap, “Liberia.” September 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.openstreetmap.org.Wikimapia, “Liberia.” September 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://wikimapia.org.Sources (Metadata)“Country Report: Travel and Tourism in Liberia.” Euromonitor International. December 01, 2012. Accessed October 02, 2014. http://www.euromonitor.com.Hirsch, Afua. “Monrovia tourist guide taps into Liberian capital’s growing potential: New map aims to show off city more renowned for war and strife, pointing way to historic sites and cocktail bars.” The Guardian. October 17, 2012. Accessed October 02, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com.“Sector Profile: Liberia - Principle Economic Sectors of Liberia.” Focus: Africa. January 01, 2010. Accessed October 02, 2014. http://focusafrica.gov.in.“Travel security advisories – Flight bans and closures.” International SOS. October 01, 2014. Accessed October 02, 2014. https://www.internationalsos.com.“Travel and Tourism – Liberia.” World Travel Market. May 01, 2010. Accessed October 02, 2014. http://www.wtmlondon.com.