Bmgt 2299 - Pestel Analysis

Howard Flanagan

Professor Krabill

BMGT 2299

February 9, 2018

Mini Case One: PESTEL Analysis

on Sierra Leone, Africa

By Howard Flanagan

Columbus State Community College

Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa. According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, it is ranked 131st out of 136 countries. That’s a pretty low rank. Due to a civil war which lasted 11 years, corrupt government and laws, weak business infrastructures and high poverty rates, is what gives Sierra Leone its low tourist rating. The three areas of focus to turn around this rating would be technological forces, ecological forces and political/legal forces.

Technological forces are huge for Sierra Leone. People are connected all over the world through the internet or world wide web. Sierra Leone is behind in this regard with limited technology hubs for people to hook up to the internet. There’s only several internet service providers operating in the country. There’s a limited amount of cell phone manufacturers also, which means there’s probably not good cellular service provided in the country. As we all know we take our cell phones with us everywhere and expect them to work just as well in another country as they do in our own. Limited technological advances for this country could and have contributed to the decreased number in travel and tourism.

The ecological forces are bad for Sierra Leone too. Issues include water management, land degradation, vulnerability to natural hazards, sewerage and sanitation, solid waste management and mining just to name some of the critical. Water management in general, will be one the key challenges soon and long term since this country is so vulnerable to natural hazards such as, drought, floods and erosion, and tropical storms. These ecological forces need attention sooner than later or these factors will continue to negatively affect Sierra Leone’s ability to draw in income and make itself a tourist and travel destination.

The third force is political/legal. A civil war which lasted 11 years, corruption in the government and weak protection of civil liberties place Sierra Leone at its place on the list. Even with a constitution in place to protect certain rights of the people, the legal framework is ineffective. The government has demonstrated a level of independence, but low salaries, police unprofessionalism, and high volumes of corruption at all levels of government, continue to be issues in Sierra Leone.

With these forces in place, Sierra Leone will continue to stay near the bottom of this list as a tourism and travel destination. In summary there needs to be some major changes to revert these forces that would cause a positive effect. The technological forces could use some sprucing in the internet. There should be a focus on the number of hubs in the country and increase the amount significantly. There has to be some major changes to the ecological forces though before you can become more technological savvy. A country must look attractive and appealing to bring in tourist and revenue. Improvements in water management, land degradation, waste management, and sewerage all need immediate attention. Certain policies and acts have been updated and revamped to speed up the process to make these improvements. And finally, political/legal forces. Since the war ended, there has been steps taken in the right direction to treat and rebuild the country. The government is trying to improve the legal framework, and address pervasive corruption. Even though the country still remains in a post-civil war recovery mode as far as finances goes, if improvements are made to these forces, Sierra Leone can become that tourist and travel destination.