Tourism in Africa

Tourism in Africa has not benefited local people. The broad population is excluded from mainstream tourism. Traditional packaged safari tourism practiced in Africa leaves no benefits to local people. It offers no cultural interaction and is mainly focused on wildlife and protected areas. Tourists travel non-stop through rural villages, taking with them tourism benefits and opportunities to lodges and hotels operated by international operators and their rich local partners. Unlike agriculture, where local people have access to markets, tourism has barriers to entry, particularly for rural communities, yet they can offer unique tourism experiences by sharing their lifestyles, cultural heritage, green environment, indigenous knowledge, organic foods and rural hospitality.

There is need to break down the walls that have for long separated local people in Africa from the benefits of tourism by educating Western tourists to change their holiday behavior and contribute to the places they visit. There is a need for travelers to Africa to shift from products to experiences, to travel independently using local service providers of small accommodation and travel activities. Instead of driving through villages in safari vans heading for national parks, they should divert to local villages, get involved and make contact with local people. The shift in attitude of Western tourists from traditional packaged safari type of tourism to interactive holidays will direct travelers to rural villages, moving them away from products to experiences in areas rich in activities, interacting with local people and learning from each other. These holidays are mutually beneficial for both guests and their local host villages.

For most tourists, their expectation of an African village is very different from what they find on ground. They come expecting a community filled with hungry children, adults dying of HIV/AIDS living in dirty unsanitary conditions and poverty! Tourists are usually very surprised at how African villages and people are very different from the images they see on media from their countries. I get to share their surprise most of the time! It’s a good feeling! One of the reasons I initiated Village and Homestead tourism and the Community-Based Tourism Initiative COBATI [www.cobati.or.ug/news.php] is to stimulate intercultural contacts and provide opportunity for both tourists and local residents to connect, learn from each other and both to benefit from the interaction. I believe it’s important to educate Western travelers about the other side of modern Africa, the positive side that is not often revealed by the international media. The village tourism experience allows people to detach themselves from old fashioned thinking and stereotypes and gives them a broader view of the world. Travel to African villages and a homestead is a unique experience that can increase understanding and build strong relationships. These endeavors enhance the human condition.

One Polish traveller spent two weeks in a Uganda village. She was lucky to attend a wedding and was amazed by how a wedding was a community activity where all residents participated. She was excited to visit a local pastoralist homestead to see Ankole long-horned cows (indigenous to Uganda and dating as far back as 7000 years ). She spent time inside the milk hut learning about the unique cow culture and sharing traditional milk handling techniques from Banyankole women. She was nicely surprised at there being so much food in Africa, how you could go to someone’s home without an appointment and freely join them for a meal! People were happy, children healthy, the landscape very scenic. She wondered why CNN and other international media did not also show the world such images of happy and vibrant Africa villages!