A Decade of Progress in African Urban Tourism Scholarship

Abstract

This article introduces a theme issue of Urban Forum on the topic of urban tourism in Africa. A context is provided for the issue by an overview of key themes which have been represented in a decade of African urban tourism research. Although most extant research is on urban South Africa, there is an emerging literature on other African cities. The major themes of research have surrounded tourism and urban economic restructuring with the establishment of new products for leisure tourism; slum tourism and pro-poor tourism; the role of the accommodation sector; African cities as non-leisure destinations; and, informal sector tourism. It is argued that within the evolving international scholarship on urban tourism, aspects of African urban tourism research exhibit distinctive features and offer challenges to Northern conceptions of urban tourism and urban tourists.

Mapping tourist hot spots in African cities based on Instagram images

“…This followed the logic of the important presence of business tourists in African cities. In the case of the cities analysed, this type of tourism would be particularly important in Accra and Nairobi (Rogerson & Visser, 2014), where it was possible to observe a greater spatial diffusion of amenities related to business tourism. The greater safety of enclosed spaces would also contribute to there being a greater number of images of them on Instagram (Paül i Agustí, 2020).…”

“…In recent years, this image has, however, changed towards more positive aspects (Bunce, 2016). In the field of tourism, the predominant themes have been related to the economy (Rogerson & Visser, 2014) and the environment, including such topics as sustainable tourism, wildlife tourism, and ecotourism (Shen et al, 2018). Cities have, however, only been the focus of a partial analysis, and one framed within analyses focusing on pro‐poor tourism or slum tourism (Coles & Mitchell, 2009; Rogerson & Visser, 2014; Shen et al, 2018).…”

“…In the field of tourism, the predominant themes have been related to the economy (Rogerson & Visser, 2014) and the environment, including such topics as sustainable tourism, wildlife tourism, and ecotourism (Shen et al, 2018). Cities have, however, only been the focus of a partial analysis, and one framed within analyses focusing on pro‐poor tourism or slum tourism (Coles & Mitchell, 2009; Rogerson & Visser, 2014; Shen et al, 2018). Even for thematic areas in which, in the western context, the presence of cities is habitual, African experiences have tended to focus on non‐urban settings, such as in the study of cultural tourism (Manwa, Moswete, & Saarinen, 2016) or heritage tourism (Rogerson & Van der Merwe, 2016).…”

Sustaining Lake Toba’s Tourism: Role of Creative Industry, Green Tourism Marketing and Tourism Experience

“…Of late, the integration of creative industry into the tourism sector has led to the emergence of creative tourism, which provides immense opportunities for tourism operators to gain a competitive advantage (Rogerson & Visser 2014;Tafel-Viia, Viia, Terk, & Lassur, 2014;Waitt & Gibson 2014). Unlike the common approach of visiting tourists' sites, creative tourism allows tourists to be involved in the activities of the attraction sites; it grants tourists the opportunity to participate in various events such as a performance or an interactive experience, both of which are expected to appeal to their satisfaction.…”

Unlocking Policy Impediments for Service Delivery in Tourism Firms: Evidence from Small and Medium Sized Hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…In the last two decades, the sector has seen growth that has emerged and positioned the African continent as being one of the fastest growing tourism regions globally (Rogerson, 2014). As both a consequence of, and a condition for, tourism growth, the hospitality sector is similarly experiencing substantial growth in SSA, with the entry and expansion of international and regional SME hotel groups on the subcontinent (Rogerson & Visser, 2014), and an increase in the number of unbranded hotels (Dedeoglu & Demirer, 2015). The growth in the number of tourist arrivals has sparked the attention of international hotel investors from the Global North in planning hotel chain pipelines in SSA (Ward, 2016).…”