• Business Insider presents the top 10 best Christmas destinations for tourists to visit this festive season. 
  • These places are naturally beautiful tourist destinations even outside of Christmas. 
  • The list comprises majorly of Sub-Saharan African countries. 

Christmas is a few days away and everyone has their preferred method of enjoying the season.

For some, Christmas is a time to spend with family and friends, for others, Christmas is a time to squeeze in as much fun and excitement as possible, and there are those who use the festive season to see other parts of the world.

Tourism during the festive period promises to be more interactive, owing to the fact that most businesses are closed. This allows for a more distinct interaction with the locals and their celebratory customs.

Also, the season by its very nature emanates exhilaration, allowing for more pleasant and cheerful interactions with people and their surroundings.

For these reasons, many choose to spend the Christmas holidays in a foreign region at least once in their lives.

Africa is no stranger to these globetrotters. Each and every year, different regions within the continent play host to some of the most excitable and curious travelers. They come for the full African experience and numerous African regions have been known to deliver.

While Africa is beautiful to visit all year round, there are places that are specifically exhilarating to visit during the Christmas season, and below are 5 of them.

Ghana: Ghana over the last two decades has become a tourist hotspot for foreign travelers. The region provides the sort of security that is appealing to tourists who may have heard some unflattering things about the continent. Ghana is an overall beautiful tourist destination, and the Ankos festival, a masquerade festival which is celebrated during Christmas is one cool reason to pay a visit to the gold coast.

Ankos Festival in Ghana
Ankos Festival in Ghana

Zanzibar: The blue waters of Zanzibar is always a delight to behold, regardless of the season. One of Zanzibar’s main economic engines is its tourism and for this reason, its government allocates a lot of funding to this sector. As a result Zanzibar is one of Africa’s main tourist sites, and this time of the year, its tourism packages are only amplified. From its beaches, to its resorts to its reserves and cultures, not to mention the beauty of Stone Town, Zanzibar is a place you definitely would love to be in during the Christmas holidays.

Zanzibar
Zanzibar

Nigeria: Nigeria is home to one of Africa’s most valuable exports, Afrobeats, and during this time of the year, these artists are going to serenade the country with numerous mind blowing performances. The Christmas period in Nigeria is one big music fest, coupled with the Calabar festival in the southern region of the country, Nigeria is an awesome place to be during the Christmas season.

Music concert in Nigeria
Music concert in Nigeria

South Africa: South Africa is one of the most racially diverse regions in the world and as such houses numerous Christmas practices. This region’s Christmas celebration is practically the largest in scale on the entire continent, coupled with its beautiful landscapes, attractions and local traditions.

Christmas in Cape Town
Christmas in Cape Town

Kenya: Kenya naturally offers some of the most breathtaking experiences with mother nature, however, because of the region’s intimacy with its culture, Kenyans mix the Christmas holiday with their local traditions to present a hybrid of joyous celebrations. In this region the celebrations take place majorly in the hometowns than in the city, with customary foods, drinks, and practices. You also get to see nature in its true glory.

Christmas in Masai-Mara-Safaris
Christmas in Masai-Mara-Safaris

Pulse