The Tourism–Development Nexus in sub-Saharan Africa: Progress and Prospects

Abstract

In the global landscape of tourism scholarship, the region of sub-Saharan Africa is an undeveloped research focus. This article offers an overview of recent research trends, and argues that cues for an African tourism agenda should be taken from the developmental imperatives that confront the continent. The nexus of tourism and development offers several important research themes for investigation. Six interrelated clusters of issues and debates are discussed concerning the impacts of differentiated kinds of tourism: tourism and the Millennium Development Goals; tourism and poverty; tourism and linkages; tourism and work; and finally, questions around tourism, climate change and the green economy. With an extended understanding of the African tourist, an important future challenge for local scholars is to counter the dominance of tourism theory that emanates from the global North.