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1 Positive tourism in Africa
Resisting Afro-pessimism
Mucha Mkono
Introduction
Tourism in Africa is an ever-evolving tale of communities and economies striving to deliver memorable tourist experiences while optimising the gains, in the face of many challenges. Nonetheless, the 21st century signals a new Africa rising turn, which recognises progress on the continent, on various levels (Bunce, Franks, and Paterson, 2016; Hofmeyr, 2013; Johnson, 2016; Pillay, 2015; Taylor, 2014). While many challenges remain, more positive stories need to be told, as a way of creating a timely, new discourse â an âAfro-positiveâ discourse, in tourism studies (and indeed in other fields of study). As Taylor (2014) argues, a change from the old, reductionist narratives of Africa is necessary, although it is important to caution that the new narrative should not just veer in the opposite direction without the necessary critical reflection.
This book presents critical studies that advance a more optimistic outlook for Africa, in various formats, including broad and localised case studies, conceptual frameworks and culturally centred interpretations of tourism phenomena. In doing so, it adds to the growing body of work on âpositive tourismâ (Filep et al., 2016) â a way of understanding tourism in relation to the value it creates for tourists, hosts communities, economies and other elements of the tourism system. Such an approach is not intended to portray tourism as some sort of utopia, but rather to showcase the many facets of tourism in Africa that illustrate hope, resilience, growth and survival.
In its many forms â community-based tourism, wildlife tourism, nature tourism, adventure/adrenaline tourism, pro-poor tourism, cultural tourism, among others â tourism in Africa at this point in time presents an ideal setting in which to explore âpositive tourismâ. In the next section, I define and contextualise the notion of âpositive tourismâ.
Defining and contextualising âpositive tourismâ
The idea of âpositive tourismâ is broached by Filep et al. (2016, p. 10) who define it as follows:
positive tourism is, broadly, a study of hedonic and eudaimonic human well- being and conditions (or various circumstances) for flourishing as they relate to individual tourists, members of host communities and tourism workers in diverse sectors of the tourism industry.
Thus positive tourism draws on a range of disciplines and approaches to unpack the experience of tourism. Of course, the perspective of tourism as enriching to individuals and communities is not new. But it is fair to state, as Filep et al. point out, that dystopian views of tourism dominate academic research. A more balanced and nuanced view of tourism is necessary.
More than that, as already pointed out, in this book, positive tourism acquires added significance and meaning in terms of the deliberate endeavour to advance a positive representation of Africa itself, that is, the Afro-positive thrust which also entails resisting and undermining Afro-pessimism (I turn to this later). Nonetheless, in Filep et al.âs (2016, p. 4) conception, positive tourism is underpinned by humanistic philosophy, a framework which deals with the existential âquestions of the good life, individual growth and achievements, authenticity, personal responsibilityâ, aspects of Being which have been investigated by numerous illustrious philosophers such as Maslow and Heidegger. Filep et al. make use of the tenets of humanistic and positive psychology to locate the positive in tourism. In this book, however, the interest is less on the psychological dimensions of touristic experience and more on the African cultural contexts of positive tourism.
Crucially, investigating positive tourism in Africa requires a multi-perspective approach that voices the wide spectrum of participants in the tourism system. It is worth re-emphasising that positive tourism is not about ignoring the many challenges and ills that tourism often brings into places and spaces. Rather, it is about understanding the conditions under which the tourism system and its participants can and have flourished, as Filep et al. (2016) put it. It is about recognising the potential for tourism to add value (and not just in monetary or economic terms) to individual lives, communities and economies. In this book, it is particularly about recognising the progress African countries have made in their tourism systems, in spite of the odds. I turn now to the state of knowledge on tourism in Africa, to solidify the rationale for this book.
Tourism in Africa: the state of knowledge
Tourism studies as a field of research has created an impressive body of knowledge on Africa. The themes are innumerable: wildlife/safari tourism (Baker, 1997; Mbaiwa, 2017), slum tourism (Chege and Mwisukha, 2013; Kieti and Magio, 2013; Rogerson, 2014), volunteer tourism (Alexander, 2012; Benson and Seibert, 2009; Stoddart and Rogerson, 2004), sustainable/ethical tourism (Akama and Kieti, 2007; Baker, 1997; Mbaiwa, 2005, 2011; Novelli, Barnes, and Humavindu, 2006; Saarinen, Becker, Manwa, and Wilson, 2009; Snyman, 2012; Spenceley, 2008b), pro-poor tourism (Akyeampong, 2011; Hill, Nel, and Trotter, 2006; Rogerson, 2006), community-based tourism (Manyara and Jones, 2007; Sebele, 2010; Spenceley, 2008a), among many others. It is, however, not necessary or possible to regurgitate all of the existing research here. The diversity of the continent and its tourism scenarios precludes that possibility. This disclaimer notwithstanding, a perusal of the top tourism journals, including Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, Current Issues in Tourism and Tourism Analysis, reveals three key patterns which capture the state of tourism knowledge on Africa.
First, a sizeable proportion of (published) tourism research on Africa has been, and continues to be, conducted by outsiders, who are typically Western, or are living and/or studying in the West. As such, a Western-centric approach is implicitly and explicitly projected on the various âfindingsâ that emerge. While such knowledge must not be undermined simply because it is âeticâ, it is important to recognise the limitations and biases that attend these outsider-gaze-based explorations. For example, the tourist who has been studied is largely Caucasian and wealthy. Increasingly, though, more studies of Asian tourists are being conducted. African tourists, on the other hand, are largely a non-existent category in research. What does this tell us about the nature of theorising in tourism?
Second, localsâ opinions are often not meaningfully represented in tourism studies. Here I will use the example of the recent trophy hunting controversy that erupted after the shooting of Cecil the lion in 2015 (Mkono, 2018). When the lion was shot, the public discourse in the news and in social media was dominated by the Westâs outrage. Similarly, the studies which have been published in connection with the incident and the broader conservation debate have almost exclusively originated from the West (for example, Macdonald, Jacobsen, Burnham, Johnson, and Loveridge, 2016; Nelson, Bruskotter, Vucetich, and Chapron, 2016).
Third, there is typically an underlying but unmistakable Afro-pessimistic tone that runs through the studies. The resulting literature does not engender much hope or optimism, as Africa is invariably compared to the developed world and is â surprise, surprise! â found to be lagging behind in technology, climate change adaptation, meeting the challenges of poaching, alleviating poverty â the list goes on and on. In short, if tourism studies are to reflect a more balanced representation of the African continent, then the lens for viewing African countries needs to be adjusted and diversified. Africans themselves must have more page space in scholarly works. Afro-pessimism must be replaced by Afro-optimism, where and when appropriate. It is not good enough to make claims about plural voices when epistemic singularity persists. It is also problematic if the story of Africa, whether it is a tourism focused one or otherwise, is told of the same themes over and over again. It is therefore this bookâs quest to provide page space to African and Africa-interested scholars of various backgrounds, who have close communion with the African continent and its tourism stories. By striking a more hopeful note, these scholars play a part in resisting Afro-pessimism, a theme which I will now unpack briefly.
Resisting Afro-pessimism
The view that Africa is unfairly represented in Western scholarly works (and in the media) is long-standing (Nothias, 2016). Postcolonial Africa continues to be defined by colonial discourses through metaphors of darkness, innocence, emptiness, crisis, a basket case and notions of being in need of imperial saving (Grant, Djomo, and Krause, 2016). This Afro-pessimistic portrayal, with its influence on destination image, bears on Africaâs desirability as a tourist destination, among other tourism implications. Yet the subject of Afro-pessimism has not yet been broached within tourism scholarship. It is therefore pertinent to investigate the ways in which tourism research and theorising could be implicated in the oversimplified representation of Africa.
In response to the hegemonic discourses of âAfrique Noireâ, or Black Africa, Afro-positive/Afro-optimist scholars across disciplines are advocating more complex images of Africa (Grant et al., 2016). As Grant et al. (2016, p. 324) put it, Afro-optimism âinvolves a break from the simplistic and neo-colonial nature of Afro-pessimism and introduces multiple, complex images of Africaâ. Grant et al. provide the example, for instance, of scholars who seek to undermine the Afro-pessimist image of Africa by presenting photographs and quotations depicting âeveryday imagesâ entitled âHumans of Ghanaâ, a project which showcases beauty, resilience and hope, which a group of researchers encountered during a recent field visit to Ghana.
Afro-pessimism is thus best countered with Afrocentrism, which, Momoh (2003) also cautions, should not be viewed as the flip side of Eurocentricity. Rather, Momoh asserts, it should be understood as a recognition of a humanist approach to building knowledge about Africa; one that investigates Africa from a sensitive, measured, sober and political point of view. It pays attention to social location, context, as well as material and cultural differences that influence social production. Such an Afrocentric approach is conspicuously lacking in tourism scholarship.
Structure of the book
The book is divided into four parts which together provide an extensive assessment of Africaâs status quo and trajectory in tourism. Part I, âTourism and community livelihoodsâ, focuses on the interactions between tourism and participant communities, with particular focus on the impacts on tourism active communities. In Chapter 2, Joseph E. Mbaiwa, Tsholofelo Mbaiwa and Gladys Siphambe evaluate community-based natural resource management programmes in the case of Botswana. Next, Regis Musavengane explores the role of land reform in promoting sustainable livelihoods through collaborative community-based ecotourism. This is followed by Moren T. Stone and Lesego T. Stoneâs chapter. They apply a systems thinking approach to examining the linkages between protected areas, tourism and community livelihoods. Part I concludes with Takaruza Munyanyiwa, Shepherd Nyaruwata, and Cleopas Njerekaiâs chapter on how community-based tourism ventures can survive in turbulent environments, based on a Zimbabwean CAMPFIRE project case study.
The second part of the book, âPositive Afro-identities and indigenous cultural resourcesâ, weaves together issues of African identity, tourism development and indigenous resources, in the context of a postcolonial Africa. Postcoloniality is explicitly interrogated in Chapter 6, where I examine the role of digital counter-narratives in undermining Afro-pessimism, a bias that is indeed challenged by the overall positioning of this book. In the next chapter, Jim Ayorekire, Joseph Obua and Michael Bruce Byaruhangaâs contribution considers the potential for innovative cultural tourism products for Uganda. In Chapter 8, Chloe Rooks, Garry Marvin, Caroline Ross and Jonathan Skinner delve into the personal dimensions of experience in their study of wildlife tourism as educational transformation. Joseph E. Mbaiwa, Gladys Siphambe and Tsholofelo Mbaiwa continue on the cultural theme in Chapter 9, exploring the strategies used by a community-based tourism project in Botswana to build cultural resilience, thus resisting the commodifying influences of tourism development. The final chapter of Part II, written by Tom Kwanya, engages with African indigeneity, in his analysis of opportunities for diversifying Kenyaâs tourism industry through packaging indigenous knowledge.
Part III of the book, âGovernance, integration and synergiesâ, commences with Binaswaree Bolakyâs discussion of regional integration as a lever for tourism development. Zibanai Zhouâs chapter then assesses tourism development milestones in the SADC region in the postcolonial era. In Chapter 13, Ogechi Adeola, Olaniyi Evans and Robert Hinson evaluate the interaction between tourism and economic wellbeing in Africa. This broader perspective is complemented by Boopen Seetanah and Sheereen Fauzelâs examination of the nexus between tourism development and human development, using evidence from Mauritius. Bernard Kitheka and Agnes Sirima then explore, in Chapter 15, tourism governance and organisational infrastructure across East Africa. The last contribution in Part III is Roopanand Mahadew and Krishnee Appadooâs evaluation of the contribution of the law to tourism development in Mauritius.
The final part of the book, Part IV, begins with David Adeloye and Neil Carrâs chapter, a dual case study of Tunisia and Egypt, where they discuss the globally topical issue of terrorism and tourism recovery. In Chapter 18, I delve into the equally topical and very controversial subject of trophy hunting. The chapter examines how trophy hunters rational...
