A History of Tourism in Africa

An engaging social history of foreign tourists dreams, the African tourism industrys efforts to fulfill them, and how both sides affect each other. Since the nineteenth century, foreign tourists and resident tourism workers in Africa have mutually relied upon notions of exoticism, but from vastly different perspectives. Many of the countless tourists who have traveled to the African continent fail to acknowledge or even realize that skilled African artists in the tourist industry repeatedly manufacture authentic experiences in order to fulfill foreigners often delusional, or at least uninformed, expectations. These carefully nurtured and controlled performances typically reinforce tourists reductive impressionsformed over centuriesof the continent, its peoples, and even its wildlife. In turn, once back in their respective homelands, tourists accounts of their travels often substantiate, and thereby reinforce, prevailing stereotypes of exotic Africa. Meanwhile, Africans staged performances not only impact their own lives, primarily by generating remunerative opportunities, but also subject the continents residents to objectification, exoticization, and myriad forms of exploitation.