Tourism in Africa

In many African countries, tourism is a major source of jobs and foreign currency. Tourism gives African governments an incentive to protect endangered species and historic monuments, and it can provide foreign visitors with a deeper appreciation of Africa's history and cultures than they could ever obtain from movies and textbooks.

Still, how much Africa's economies, ecosystems, and citizens really benefit from tourism remains open to debate. Tourism is typically a low-wage and often highly seasonal industry, and the popularity of a particular region or site can shift according to the promotional campaigns of foreign travel agencies. In addition, much of the revenue generated by tourism does not remain in the host country. The amount that goes to foreign airlines, hotel chains, and tour operators, known as "leakage," is very high in countries where many visitors come as part of organized package tours. For example, in Kenya, leakage has been estimated to consume about 70 percent of tourism revenue; in the Gambia, the figure is 60 percent.

Also, the development of the infrastructure necessary to house, transport, and entertain tourists can harm the environment, even where the tourist attractions themselves — be they animals, beaches, or monuments — are carefully protected. The creation of wildlife parks and other tourist facilities has displaced some African peoples, such as the Maasai of East Africa, from their pastures and farmlands. Finally, some African countries have found that tourism has generated negative side industries, such as prostitution and the smuggling of art objects (see The Commodification of African Art). Regardless of its drawbacks, however, many African countries look to tourism as a source of future economic growth.

EARLY TOURISM

Some of the activities associated with tourism in Africa date back centuries. As far back as the Roman occupation of Egypt beginning around 30 b.c.e., Romans explored the ruins of Thebes and tombs in the Valley of the Kings. For centuries, Arab, Asian, and later European explorers trekked across portions of the continent, often keeping records of the sites and peoples they encountered.

It was not until the early colonial period, however, that modern tourism emerged in Africa. Inspired by the published accounts of 19th-century European explorers, well-to-do Europeans and Americans began to travel to Africa, to glimpse first the wonders of Egypt and the Nile, then other scenic wonders, such as Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro. By the turn of the century, wealthy sportsmen (see Safari Hunting) were traveling to East and southern Africa to hunt big game, eager to return with trophies of lions, elephants, or rhinoceros.

But even though the numbers of foreign travelers in Africa increased during the colonial period, the tourism infrastructure — transportation systems, hotels, guide services — remained minimal. After World War II, this changed: the development of fast, easy, and relatively inexpensive transoceanic travel and the construction of luxury accommodations around Africa's prime attractions set the stage for mass tourism. By the late 20th century, tourism in Africa took many forms.

CULTURAL TOURISM

Cultural tourism has been popular for many years in Africa. Egypt, which boasts some of the continent's most ancient and spectacular monuments and artifacts, has for decades received a steady stream of tourists, most of whom come to see the Valley of the Kings, Thebes, the Nile, and the museums in Cairo. Together with cities such as Casablanca, Marrakech, and F&egraves, Egypt has helped make North Africa the continent's most visited region. For European tourists, North Africa's proximity makes it a viable destination even for short trips.

Since the late 1970s, cultural tourism has expanded to encompass a broader range of activities. West African countries, for example, are now attracting African Americans and other tourists interested in learning more about the transatlantic slave trade. Such tourists typically visit Gorיe Island, a major slave port off the coast of Senegal, as well as sites in Benin and Ghana. Three former slave forts in Ghana were declared World Heritage sites by the United Nations: Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle, and Fort Saint Jago. In the Gambia, the village of Jufurre became a pilgrimage site for many African Americans after the television series based on Alex Haley's 1977 book Roots made it famous. Now the Gambia holds an annual Roots Homecoming Festival, which highlights the cultural ties between diasporic Africans and Africa. In addition to historic sites related to the slave trade, visitors can attend demonstrations of dance and wrestling, purchase traditional African crafts, and arrange to stay with local families.

Cultural tourism is also a growing business in southern Africa. Visitors to South Africa, for example, can spend a night in the dwelling of a Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, or Zulu family in the Lesedi Cultural Village outside Johannesburg. Residents of the village wear the traditional dress of their own people — cotton wraps for the Xhosa, fur loincloths for the Zulu — and perform dances and storytelling for the visitors. In Zimbabwe, members of the Shangaan ethnic group began construction on a similar model village, where small numbers of visitors will be able to stay overnight and participate in village activities. Its organizers estimated that the venture had the capacity to generate $1 million annually, helping fund such social services as schools and hospitals for Shangaan communities. Proponents of this kind of cultural tourism maintain that it helps keep traditional cultural practices alive. Critics insist that tourists witness nothing more than "staged authenticity" in model villages, and in the process intrude on the privacy of village residents.

WILDLIFE TOURISM

Africa's wildlife has long fascinated foreigners. Wildlife safaris remain one of the most popular forms of tourism in Africa and an important source of revenue for countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and South Africa. In these countries, private companies drive visitors through wildlife parks or game reserves and provide lodging in lodges or luxury tent camps nearby. Tours in game reserves are aimed at hunters, who pay for the trophies they take, but most safari tourists visit national parks and take only photographs. Many companies in South Africa guarantee a sighting of the Big Five, that is, lions, elephants, rhinoceros, leopards, and buffalo.

The revenue generated from safari tourism has made the survival of endangered species a high priority for African governments. In Kenya, for example, a single lion is worth an estimated $7000 per year in tourist income, while an elephant herd is worth $610,000 annually. Hunting of both species in Kenya is legal only with a permit. On the other hand, citizens of wildlife-rich countries — some of whom have been displaced from their traditional lands to make way for wildlife parks, and many of whom face the chronic threat of crop destruction and even attack by wild animals — have often claimed that their governments protect animals at the expense of people.

Some wildlife management programs, however, are trying to win local communities' support for conservation by giving them a voice in the planning processes and awarding them a share of the profits from safari tourism. In Zimbabwe, for example, the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) gives farming communities in elephant-hunting areas a portion of the trophy fees paid by foreign hunters (each area sets an annual limit on the number of animals that can be legally killed). Among other things, the communities can use the money to fence their fields, thus protecting them from elephant damage. In return, the communities look out for the local elephant populations by maintaining watering holes during the dry season and discouraging poaching.

COASTAL RESORT TOURISM

Sunbathing, snorkeling, and sailing on Africa's balmy coastlines are favorite pastimes for European and South African tourists. The beaches of Kenya, Togo, Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the Gambia are all popular winter vacation spots for Europeans. Like other tourist destinations in Africa, coastal resorts have generated problems along with profits. In the Gambia, for example, resorts have created strong local markets for crafts and fresh produce, but the behavior and skimpy clothing of the tourists themselves offend many of the Gambia's conservative Muslims. Both female and male prostitution is widespread in coastal areas, as is drug addiction among the Gambian youth.

ECOTOURISM AND BEYOND

In response to the many criticisms leveled at conventional forms of tourism, many national and local governments and private companies are now promoting ecotourism. In principle, ecotourism is environmentally and culturally sensitive, educational, and locally controlled — or at least locally beneficial. Thus, host communities would see the economic value of preserving resources and biodiversity.

Some ecotourism organizations focus on the preservation of a particular culture or historic site. In Tunisia, for example, an ancient, abandoned agricultural community in the Matmata Mountains, Doiret, has been undergoing restoration since 1986. The nongovernmental organization behind the project sought to rebuild the economy as well as the physical structure of the town, but erratic rainfall makes agriculture alone an insufficient source of revenue. So now the restoration effort is focused on developing educational, "low-impact" tourist facilities in and around Doiret: an old primary school has become a youth hostel; the town's distinctive troglodyte (cave) houses will be turned into additional tourist lodging; and volunteers are building a museum and a model Roman theater.

Another variation on the ecotourism theme is the research holiday. The nonprofit organization Earthwatch funds its scientific research projects partly with the fees paid by the projects' volunteer participants. In Africa, Earthwatch volunteers in recent years have taken part in archaeological digs in Namibia; gathered data on ecological change around Kenya's Lake Naivasha; and investigated the feasibility of wind and solar power in Kenya.

In the 1990s, more and more tourist enterprises have adopted the prefix "eco" to appeal to tourists seeking environmentally friendly recreation. In some cases, these enterprises bear little resemblance to ecotourism as it is normally understood. For example, the South African-based Conservation Corporation (Conscorp) has been building an international chain of luxury "eco-tourist" resorts since 1990. By 1997 the corporation had completed 52 lodges in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. Room costs average $350 per night. Conscorp claims that its lodges benefit local people by providing not only jobs but also tax revenues that have paid for schools and health clinics. Conscorp also claims that its resorts stimulate local entrepreneurialism. For example, much of the food served at the resort restaurants is grown locally, and on the South African resorts, Zulu people own the safari vehicles.

On the other hand, resorts like Conscorp's do not allow local communities much if any say over how local resources are used. Nor are their facilities remotely affordable for most Africans. But for some of Africa's poorest countries, high-end tourism ("eco" or otherwise) appears to offer the quickest possible source of much-needed foreign investment and jobs. In 1996 Mozambique granted American entrepreneur James Blanchard a long-term lease to an extensive tract of land south of the capital of Maputo, which included dune forests, lakes, 200 elephants, coral reefs, marine turtles, and approximately 100 km (about 70 mi) of undeveloped coastline. Blanchard planned to construct four "Club Med-style" resorts, nine "beach resorts," two vacation villages, and 350 private lodges, two casinos, a yacht marina, and a railway. The complex would offer all the activities associated with both coastal resorts and wildlife parks, which some have labeled "surf and turf" tourism.

Critics feared that Blanchard's mega-resort would not only damage the environment but also result in the "Disneyfication" of the region. But Mozambique is one of the world's poorest countries, and it badly needs capital to rebuild its economy after a long civil war. Blanchard alone promised to invest $800 million and claimed that his project would create 12,000 jobs.

Contributed By: Robert Fay