Mali, surroundings of Segou: the chief village.

© Igino Schraffl.

In recent decades, the tourism sector has climbed several notches on the ladder of development-aid interventions to the Third World. There are numerous reasons: the need for investment; reconversion from agricultural activities; increasing demand in Europe for exotic destinations. Although consultants and international organisations in the sector say the barometer is still set fair, will a focus on eco-tourism and culture avoid a predicted fall-off? 

The overall increase of the incoming flow on the African continent is exclusively due to a booming South African tourism. Tourism figures for Egypt are holding up since cultural tourism destinations always seem to pull in visitors. Other Northern and Central African countries are registering declining figures and if the ‘life-cycle’ of an economic model is applied, many are facing even market saturation and saturation is generally followed by decline.

Such forecasts are based on mathematical projections and statistical calculations. Future demographic increase, in poor countries, will not generate huge flows of tourists, and ageing populations in rich countries do not bode well for exotic destinations since they are more likely to be put off by uncomfortable transport and frequent lack of high-quality accommodation, health dangers, poor sanitary facilities and risks to personal security.

Furthermore, recent extensive market studies – using highly sophisticated tools and criteria, based on the new bio-economics or neuro-economics, behavioural-motivational economics and neuro-sciences – reveal that the so-called ‘generation x’ (people born between 1965 and 1980), following the ‘baby-boomers’ generation’ (1950-1965), also show a leaning to cultural, nature and eco-tourism. Consequently, the market niche of exotic tourism is set to shrink even further – as the new classes of tourists display trends similar to those of the elderly as far as comfort, service and quality are concerned.

Rejecting the ‘obsolete’

Moreover, they prefer what is trendy, fancy or glamorous, and reject the ‘obsolete’, classical or traditional. The new devotees to fitness and wellness have to be taken into account. They often have no interest in wildlife or movement and are wary of unchartered environments. Such tourists prefer the beach to mountaineering, and cultural tours are limited to a few trips to well-trodden tourist sites.

Another factor is that only a few countries are in a position of being able to develop mass tourism, lessening incentives to develop the tourism sector. Unlike other sectors sectors, tourism cannot take great advantage of the positive impact of Information and Technology.

In abandoning the traditional approach of promoting a particular territory and adopting a new sophisticated concept based on the management of the destination system, what conclusions can be drawn to expand the market niche of tourism to exotic destinations?
 
Under a new ‘management of destination’ system, no factor can be overlooked: security, health and sanitation, access and transportation, currency and banking, regulatory enforcement, pricing, vocational training, monitoring. Tourist landmarks which raise revenue must be cared for through new management schemes. And, finally, the whole undertaking should be based throughout on solid sustainability criteria to ensure long-term market stability.

If the main economic aim is to reduce unemployment and poverty, one of the most viable solutions is promoting eco- and culture-friendly small-scale tourism with special features, on the model of existing centres of sustainable tourism integrated in a rural development scheme, i.e. an integral system including tourist activity, bio-agricultural production, renewable energy use, social assistance and educational facilities.

* Professor of Public Choice at the Rome Lumsa University; a senior voluntary senior expert for the United Nations who is currently working as adviser to the Ministry of Tourism, Mali.

Suggested weblinks