Paper short abstract:

Looking at the migration processes occurring in urban areas of Petite Côte, the paper discusses the role of cultural tourism in the formation of migration aspirations. Narratives and daily practices of tourist guides will shed light on historical, local and material dimension of their aspirations.

Paper long abstract:

The boat migrations to Canary Islands are the more recent chapter of the history of Senegalese emigrations beyond the African borders, which dates back to the role of the tirailleurs sénégalais in first decades of the 20th century (Bertoncello & Bredeloup 2004). Although this phenomenon has been summarily dismissed by Senegalese media and institutional representatives as the acts of kamikazes or naive adventurers, the analysis of the social transformations occurring in the local urban contexts in the country of origin sheds light on the historical and socio-cultural processes from which the "aspiration to migrate" springs up (degli Uberti 2014). In view of the growing acknowledgment among scholars that migrant trajectories along which human flows occur are primarily imagined, the purpose of this study is discussing the impact of tourism in Senegalese urban areas, how the migration aspirations and the idea of 'elsewhere' are socially and spatially constructed in the Senegalese context. Drawing from the ethnographic research undertaken in the tourismified urban areas of M'bour and Saly, I examine the narratives and practices of aspiring migrants. The paper explores the impact of tourism, the relationship between tourists and local people in framing the representation of the places where they live, how these places are experienced and how the tourists' experiences plays a pivotal role in the construction of an imaginary 'elsewhere'. The paper discusses the relationship between migration, tourism and imagination, showing how among many people the 'elsewhere' is often a cultural rather than a geographical experience of mobility.