Introduction: Tourism in Africa: continental issues and regional context

This chapter offers a brief introduction to a number of theoretical perspectives on the relationship between tourism and development and provides a critical account of the state of tourism in Africa. It provides a broad examination of current issues and stumbling blocks to sustainable tourism development in Africa. Tourism development under a neoliberal perspective continues to represent the biggest proportion of tourism product development around the world. Tourism research rooted in post-development thinking offers a nuanced understanding of the shaping effects of the tourism phenomena on both communities and tourists. Having analysed some of the key tourism issues in Africa and despite recognising the enormous potential of tourism development at continental level, five main interrelated constraints highlighted by Novelli to the fulfilment of the ‘African tourism dream’ remain. These are organised according to the World Bank terminology, as: unpredictable and weak business environments; institutional weaknesses; inadequate access; low level of linkages; and price/value mismatch.