As far as 'third world' countries are concerned, tourism, it is said, has become the latest hope in many countries for learning foreign exchange. African governments are showing increasing interest in developing tourism as a source of growth and diversification.

Countries such as Gambia in West Africa, Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, Tunisia in Northern Africa, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa have placed tourism as a major component of their economic strategies.

It is said that, in the right circumstances, tourism can contribute effectively to economic development because: barriers to entry into the international market are lower than for most external trade sectors; tourism expenditures can provide a significant stimulus to other production and service sectors; properly managed, tourism has the potential to alleviate poverty, preserve cultural heritage and protect natural resources; and international tourism is a relatively high-growth industry.

According to official sources, by 1995, tourism had become an important sector in Tanzania, second only to agriculture. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) ranked Tanzania as sixth among 20 African countries with the highest income from tourism by 1996. The leading by ranking were: Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya and Mauritius. Tanzania jumped from 16th position in 1985 to 6th position in 1996.

It was claimed by the Tanzanian government that tourism earned the country $725 million and $731 million from 525,122 and 576,000 tourists respectively for the years 2001 and 2003, for example.

Accordingly, the sector had become an engine of growth of the economy, since, according to the government, it was contributing nearly 16 percent of the GDP and 25 percent of the exports.
Attempts to develop the tourism industry aggressively have been taking place within the broader framework of the crisis and adjustment. Over the years the International Financial Institutions have attributed the economic crisis facing African countries to the 'predominance of welfare-oriented policies' pursued by various governments and the neglect of pure economic concerns.

The perception that states are the driving force of economic growth has increasingly been replaced by the perception of an increased role for market forces in the allocation of resources and a much enlarged role for the private sector in production sector and the management of the economy.

Over the past thirty years or so, African countries have been liberalizing internal trade markets by removal of price controls, de-confinement of industrial products, liberalization of interest-rates, etc.

They have further introduced management reforms so as to bring expenditure into line with real resources, in terms of control of growth of money supply, cuts in government spending for social and productive services provisioning through 'cost-sharing' measures, eliminated subsidies, etc.

Together with these reforms, they have restructured the public sector through removal of protection, subsidies, and support for parastatals; privatized public enterprises; reformed civil and parastatal service by firing workers (euphemistically relabelled 'retrenchment' or 'down-sizing'); and, restructured agriculture (by introduction of individualization, titling and registration of land), etc. These countries have even created 'enabling environments' for foreign investors through tax exemptions and holidays and protection of their interests.

It was in this context that the question of poverty alleviation as a social policy was brought to the fore as part of the adjustment package by the 1990s. It is within such a context that 'experts' could be assigned to talk about tourism as a gateway to poverty reduction! They can even be required to particularly focus on goals aimed at: harnessing the immense power of tourism as a leading force for poverty reduction in Africa; to identify the needs that should be met to implement socially, culturally and environmentally responsible tourism; to show case studies of 'success stories' and models of 'best practice'; and, develop concrete action programs and pilot projects to facilitate and nurture sustainable community tourism development.

It will be imprudent on my part to claim that these issues are of common agreement, since it is common knowledge that even the industry that we are dealing with-tourism and its role in the promotion of peace and reduction of poverty is not devoid of vested interests and real conflicts. In fact, the history of tourism in Africa has been a process of conflicts in most cases.

Therefore, my 'roadmap' (if it will lead me anywhere) is very simple. The first task will be to explore the contemporary images, sites and sounds of tourism together with its associated policies, programmes and processes. Its aim is straightforward: to determine the extent to which these initiatives address the historical and underlying factors of class, race, gender, age and ethnicity inherent in the industry as well as related processes of land and conservation of our natural resources.


Author Professor Seithy Chachage in collaboration with Usu Mallya