Travel Guide Names Liberia Top Tourist Destination

The distinguished travel guide, Lonely Planet, a recognised global authority on travel advice, has released its list of the top tourist destinations in the world for 2020, placing Liberia eighth.

Two other African countries, Eswatini and Morocco, also made the top 10, coming in fifth and ninth respectively.

The news will no doubt be a welcome break for the government of George Weah, which has recently struggled with accusations of undermining a free press and speech freedoms, after a government-critical radio station was forcibly shut down earlier this month by police.

Liberia has also battled to rebuild its reputation as a tourist destination since 2016, when the country grappled with the Ebola virus between 2014-2016, killing nearly 11,500 people in Liberia and neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“For most outsiders, Liberia is a bit of a mystery.  But those in the know wax lyrical about the optimism of its people and the country’s natural wonders.  There are idyllic beaches, washed by some of West Africa’s best surf at low-key resorts” the guide explains.

“Then there’s Sapo National Park, the second-largest area of primary rainforest in West Africa.  In these dense forests, you stand a chance of running into chimpanzees, forest elephants and Liberia’s famous pygmy hippos – no larger than a Shetland pony”.

This has been a good week for Liberia’s tourist board, having previously been named the friendliest country to strangers in the world by the Charities Aid Foundation.