1. TOURISM IN
SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA
TDM 458
Ara Pachmayer

2. Africa: A Continent waiting to be
rediscovered
 What comes to mind when you think of
Africa?

3. Geography, History, Politics
Overview

4. Africa Facts
 The continent of Africa comprised of 54
countries with a population of over 900 million
people
 The continent covers 6% of the Earth‟s total
surface area – very low populations density
 Second largest continent after Asia
 Each country is varied in its
resources, culture, historical legacies, and
economic, social, and political structures

8. Africa: Historical Overview
 Prehistoric Times
 Origins of Man; Olduvai Gorge - Tanzania
 5000 BC - 1500 AD
 Existence of several indigenous African civilizations
and Empires – Potential for Cultural Tourism
 Nubia: Nile region 5,000 B.C.
 Egyptian: 3000-2000 B.C.
 Kushite/Meroe (Sudan): 500 B.C-320A.D.
 Axum (Replaced Kushite): 320 A. D.
 Ghana: 800 A.D.
 Zimbabwe: 850 A.D.
 Mali: 1240 A.D.
 Songhai Empire (Western Africa): 1495 A.D.

9. Africa: Historical Overview
 Late 1400‟s to late 1800‟s
 European exploration, adventurism, exploitation of
natural and human resources and political subjagation
 Countries involved in African “adventurism”
 Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Th
e Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden
 These countries have influenced, altered and
even distorted the geographical, social and
cultural landscapes of Africa

10. Africa: Historical Overview
 1884: The Berlin Conference
 Political Partitioning of Africa
 Drawing of today‟s political boundaries; mostly
arbitrary lines without social and ethnic
considerations of local communities
 Laid the foundations of contemporary land
disputes, civil wars and political conflicts

12. Historical Overview - 1884 -
1950
 Colonial administration and governance
primarily by Belgium, England, France and
Portugal
 Exploitation of economic resources
 Globalization - export of raw “material” and
importation of manufactured goods
 Europeanization through educational
system, language, religion, lifestyle, civil
administration, etc.

13.  Political Independence, de-colonization
transition
 Period of political instability due to liberation
wars, civil wars, coups d‟etat etc.
 Attempts at regional and continental unification
 Economic marginalization
Historical Overview – 1950 –
1970‟s

14.  Completion of de-colonization process
 Increased emphasis of democratization
 Greater acceptance of privatization, free
enterprise models of economic development
 External imposition of structural adjustment
policies
 IMF, World Bank etc. forced implementation of
„free market‟ programs
(Privatization, Deregulation)
 Natural and man-made disasters
 Continuing political and military conflicts
Historical Overview – 1980‟s -
Today

15.  Huge impact on tourism today
 Languages, religions, cultural
similarities, VFR, familiarity
 Source market of tourists
 $ for infrastructure
 International companies
 transportation links
Ex. British-India connection
Ex. French-Lao connection
Ex. Spanish-Latin America connection
Impact of Colonialism on Modern Tourism

16. Impact of Colonialism on Modern Tourism
 Transportation
 Airlines
British Airways: London-Accra, Cape
Town, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos, Abuja
Air France: Paris-
Nouakchott, Dakar, Bamako, Conakry, Abidj
an, Niamey, N‟Djamena
Yaoundé, Bangui, Libreville
TAP Portugal: Luanda, Maputo, Bissau,
 Not just Africa, but remnants of colonialism are
worldwide

17. Tourism Today

18. Tourism Statistics and Trends
 International Tourism arrivals in Sub-Saharan
Africa - 33 million
 International Tourism Expenditures of $23
billion
 Grew by about 7%
 South Africa Share of arrivals and exp.
 25% of arrivals
 41% of expenditures
 Trends and Projections
2020 – 55 million arrivals
2030 – 88 million arrivals

19. Regional Distribution of Tourist Arrivals (2010)
 Region Arrivals
 Southern Africa 12.6 million
 East Africa 12.1million
 West & Central Africa 6.8 million

21. Africa as a Source Market

22. Setting for Tourism in
Sub-Saharan Africa
 Sheer size of the region is an asset as well as a
hindrance to developing a tourism industry
 Most of the continent is sparsely
populated, offering wide-open spaces, an
almost unique wealth of wildlife, spectacular
scenery, and tribal cultures that have fascinated
travelers for centuries

23.  There are considerable variations in the scale of tourism
development in Africa from most developed ones to
least developed ones
 Countries such as Kenya, Mauritius and The Seychelles
in the Indian Ocean, Morocco and Tunisia in the
north, South Africa, and Zimbabwe in the south are
successful tourism destinations
 Countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, and
Zambia have limited leisure tourism potential
 Limited infrastructure
 Security and safety issues
 Political instability
Setting for Tourism in
Sub-Saharan Africa

24. Positives and Potentials for
Sub-Saharan Africa Tourism
 Cultural understanding-South African Township tours
 Cultural diversity - Historical cultures and current
cultures
 Volunteer Tourism
 Community-Based tourism
 Conservation of gorillas, elephants, etc
 Adventure Tourism
 Natural wonders of the world- Victoria falls, Nile
River, Congo River, Great Rift Valley…etc
 Beach Tourism-largely untouched coastal areas with
little development
 Diaspora Tourism

30. Barriers to Tourism
Development

31.  AIDS - Botswana‟s work force future
 Highly educated, young, politically stable
 Huge AIDS rate (40% or more)
 Poverty and need to fill basic human needs of
food, clean water, healthcare, education are of primary
importance
 Infrastructure
 Roads, Airports, Ferries, Rail etc.
 Zimbabwe- Inflation and harsh totalitarian government
 Expiration dates on money, limits on cash,
 Mugabe - White farmers, current violence
Problems & Challenges

33. Problems & Challenges
 Comparative costs, value, quality service
delivery
 Communication network: telephone, faxes, e-
mails for travel arrangements
 Limited marketing budget, lack of awareness of
key international markets
 Absence of skilled human resources for tourism
planning, development, promotion and
management
 Difficult to provide the type of experience tourists are
expecting

34.  Low income, limited savings of citizens
 Weak source for domestic or regional tourism
(people from the region don‟t travel much)
 Africa tourism is Euro-dependent
 More than 2/3 of African tourists originate from Europe
and North America
 Sparse domestic investment capital
 Reliance on foreign investment
 Reliance on multi-national corporations
Problems & Challenges

35. Multi - national Corporations:
Benefit or Liability?
 Tourism industry in Africa has traditionally been
dominated by multi - national corporations , primarily
Western, making this a questionable area of economic
development
 Transport of tourists to Africa is predominantly carried
out by Western airlines. (increasing connections from
US)
 Accommodation is often provided in hotel chains owned
and managed by multi-national corporations
 Senior management of tourist facilities tends to be
expatriate
 Food consumed by tourists is specially imported for
them

36. Problems & Challenges
 Liberation wars: e.g.
Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe
 Civil Wars: e.g. DRC, Angola, Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Ivory
Coast, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi
 Coups d‟etat: Sudden forceful overthrow of
legitimate government by army and/or police

37. Problems & Challenges for
Travelers
 Health: Entry requirements - vaccinations
 Endemic conditions threats: air-borne, water-
borne and food-borne diseases
 Facilitation: Visa requirements, information and
processing
 Transportation: long-
haul, cost, frequency, reliability, safety with
national airlines
 Poor road, rail and water transportation

39. Specific Destinations

40. Kenya & Tanzania
 Nature based, safari tourism
 General, photo, hunting, walking, hot air
balloon, camel/desert, underwater
 Eco-systems - Serengeti, Masai
Area, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
 Archaeological, Heritage Tourism - Olduvai
Gorge
 Cultural Tourism - The Masai Trbe

43. Community based tourism
 Kampi Ya Kanzi
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ7iAcrWGfk
 Can fast forward to around 2:39 of the video
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0e-s0Kq-
60&feature=plcp
 Longer video which explains the role of the trust
 10 reasons
 http://www.maasai.com/10-reasons-to-come/
 Gives a detailed overview of why tourists should visit and
how their visit helps the local community

44. Gorilla Tourism Uganda
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezz-
sbdPpEw&feature=related
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VXzsZO44VE&feature=relat
ed (about 17 minutes long but very interesting and good
explanation of how tourism is changing the country)