This panel investigates the role of tourism in the economic development of African states and communities, and the social benefits and problems this produces, as well as the marketing strategies of African states in emerging tourist markets and encounters with these new categories of clients.
Long Abstract:
Tourism is widely regarded as one of the sectors with the highest economic potential for many African countries. Whereas before, only a handful of "key players" like Botswana, Tanzania, or South Africa have envisioned a proper tourism strategy, we currently also witness a wave of new tourism development plans in countries like Malawi, Mozambique or Uganda. The hope in promoting tourism is reinforced by the mass emergence of new clients coming from Asian and Arab countries. On the ground, these new clients do not only create enthusiasm, especially when it comes to social behaviour and environmental consciousness. Looking at the tourism strategies of African countries themselves one might ask if anything has changed in the image Africa wants to promote world-wide: a continent with vast herds of wildlife in an untouched nature, beautiful sunsets and people happily living their traditional and photogenic lifestyle. We are looking for contributions that investigate the role of tourism in the economic development of African states, regions, or communities, and the social benefits and problems this produces. This could entail all forms of tourism - safari, hunting, cultural and eco-tourism. We particularly welcome papers focusing on encounters with tourists coming from Asia, Arab and Latin American countries, and papers focusing on the tourism marketing strategies of African states in these regions. This panel is organised in conjunction with the panel 'African Global Travellers: (dis)connections, policies, and imaginations ', both convened by the AEGIS CRG 'Africa in the World'.
The paper aims to develop a theoretical angle into the question of community involvement in international tourism. Thus, the notion of the 'tourist bubble' will be framed inside socio-economic and historical dynamics that show under what conditions local communities can benefit best from tourism.
Paper long abstract:
This paper wants to pursue the line of thinking developed in African Hosts and their Guests, in identifying those dynamics and processes that inform the impact on and advantages for local communities in being part of tourism. The theoretical notion of the 'tourist bubble', which often has been mentioned in literature but seldom has been elaborated upon, will be set inside a framework of social dynamics, both internal and external to the community in question. The paper will compare the grass roots development of these reception structures in diverse locations, in Africa, but also outside the continent. Possible factors influencing 'bubble development' might be length of exposure, specific history of the host-guest contact, power differences and cultural self-confidence.
The aim of this comparative reflection is to identify those factors that enhance the participation in and gainful involvement in international tourism by local populations.
Through data mining from a Chinese OTA, this study obtained 3,000 travel notes of Chinese tourist in Africa. Using a keyword co-occurrence analysis method, we examine the image of Africa through the gaze of Chinese tourists which will be enriched by insights gained from anthropological fieldwork.
Paper long abstract:
The strengthening of China-Africa economic cooperation has promoted the development the tourism market of both Africa and China. In 2017, the number of bilateral visits between China and Africa reached about 1.426 million, consisting of 7.978 million Chinese tourists and 628,300 African tourists (CTA 2018). This ongoing research aims to explore the image of Africa through 'the gaze' (Urry 2011) of Chinese tourists in order to test similarities and differences with traditional Western tourists. Through data mining from one of China's most representative Online Travel Agency, the study examines 3,000 travel notes of Chinese tourists who visited Africa continent. We conducted a content analysis, using a keyword co-occurrence analysis method to show what the African image from Chinese tourists' view. At the same time, The content analysis will be enriched by insights gained from anthropological fieldwork on Chinese in Africa since 2018​.
By looking at one key case study and comparing it to other tourism sites in the region, the paper will examine how San-culture is perceived, depicted, formed and used both by tourists and local actors.
Paper long abstract:
Cultural tourism has become an increasingly important sector of the tourism industry in Southern Africa. One segment of this form of tourism focuses on indigenous or so-called tribal people, their customs, traditional knowledge and heritage. Both NGOs and many scholars see cultural tourism as an opportunity to give a sustainable income source to poor and/or rural communities. Critics fear that ethno-tourism might lead to devaluation and commodification of culture, perpetuate stereotypes and result in new economic dependencies. Several San-speaking groups have become involved in tourism offering both cultural activities such as bush-walks, dances and craft making as well as accommodation, ranging from basic camping facilities to luxury lodges. The paper introduces, different ethno-tourism venues, some of which are privately owned others initiated by NGOs. By looking at one key case study and comparing it to other tourism sites in the region, the paper will examine how San-culture is perceived, depicted, formed and used both by tourists and local actors. Both groups see the cultural activities as education offering facts and knowledge about nature as well as a toehold for intercultural learning. The interest taken in their culture by tourists breeds self-esteem and cultural pride for local actors. The tourism ventures have diverse social and economic implications for the local communities. Mostly those people participate who are already in eminent positions within local society and can invest either social or cultural capital. Challenges in providing and maintaining facilities and service arise depending on the scale and market sector of the venture.
Lamu Old Town being the oldest and preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa, retains many of its traditional functions which attracts tourists from different parts of the world including Asia & Arabic countries. Tourism development has influenced Lamu's economy, lifestyle and culture.
Paper long abstract:
Tourism is a worldwide growing industry and regarded as an integral component of economic development strategies in developing nations. In Kenya, income from tourism constitutes the country's second largest source of foreign exchange followed by Agriculture. Tourists to Lamu are attracted by unique Swahili architecture, culture, spatial organization and heritage, who consume during their visits and spend time to learn about local history and cultures of the people. The attractions foster tourism development in the area thus directly impacting the local communities. Therefore, this study aims to identify the socio-cultural impacts of tourism development in Lamu Old Town, by examining specific residents' perceptions of their own quality of life. The results were obtained through observation and informal conversations with tourist guides and those working in tourism sector. The study found out that tourism development is the major cause for change in residents' economy and lifestyles. Economically, tourism has brought development through job creation, Income and revenue generation thus improving residents´ life. However, tourism has also affected the economy and culture of Lamu residents. The jobs in the sector are seasonal thus affecting the income. Tourists have brought diverse values to the community thus influencing residents' behavior. The traditional way of doing things is slowly changing because the young generation is not interested to learn the practices which they view as time consuming but instead adopt new western practices brought as a result of tourism. Tourists from Asia and Arabic countries have influenced the cooking and building techniques.
This panel will examines whether or to what degree the Ethiopian national park governance policy facilitate and/or debilitate local communities' involvement to conserve the biodiversity of their surroundings and benefits of tourism industry.
Paper long abstract:
In most African countries, national parks were established during the colonial period mainly for the purpose of hunting and tourism (King, 2007). However, the policy, fortress conservation approach, has neglected the local communities who were residing there before the establishment of the national park. Such action has severely affected the social, economic and political aspects of the local community (Pimbert & Pretty, 1995). Awash national park, a first legally gazzeted national park in Ethiopia, was established in 1969 for the conservation and preservation of biodiversity and for tourism. The then government established the national park via taking lands from the Afar and Keryou community who were living around it. Despite the special care provided to the biodiversity, the local communities who lost their lands due to the national park establishment did not get fair compensation payment. This was because of the old national park governance policy that only focused on conservation of natural resources without taking into consideration the benefit of the local community from the protected area (Kameri-Mboti, 2005). Establishment of national parks via excluding the local communities or their participation has often caused negative relationships between Protected Areas and local communities, resulting in conflict (Asebe, 2012). This conflict could make it impossible to sustainably manage the natural resources and use for tourism.
Therefore, the overall objective of this study is to examine whether or to what degree the Ethiopian government national park governance policy facilitate and/or debilitate local communities' involvement to conserve the biodiversity of their surroundings and benefits of tourism industry.
Community based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a popular concept to foster development in conservation areas through tourism. This research looks at the factors defining the capacity of CBNRM programmes to capture value in tourism global production networks.
Paper long abstract:
Tourism plays a key role in the design of community based natural resource management (CBNRM) programmes for nature conservation. By commodifying wildlife, an utilisationist approach is applied that aims at fostering regional development to achieve consent among local communities on conservation measures. The benefits are mainly generated by both trophy hunting and safari tourism. Local communities are awarded direct use rights, which are then transferred to tourism investors and hunting companies. By this means, conservancies in peripheral rural areas are integrated into global production networks (GPN) of the tourism industry. While benefit-sharing and value distribution at the local level are subject of an ongoing debate, less attention has so far been paid to the negotiation processes of conservancies with actors of the tourism GPN. Moreover, it can be assumed that linkages of tourism operations to the local economic structure are weak. Thus, a global production network approach is used to reveal varying patterns of local value capture and territorial embeddedness of tourism enterprises in conservancies of the Zambezi region in Northern Namibia. This is based on qualitative interviews with tourism entrepreneurs and conservancy managements as well as on conservancy financial reports. In this way, the factors that influence the effectiveness of conservancies to capture value in tourism GPNs are highlighted. All in all, the study leads to a refined understanding of the role conservancies play in the process of marketing their wildlife to global players.
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