Annette M Schmidt 
African Hosts and their Guests 
Cultural Dynamics of Tourism

Africa is a ‘theme park’ for Western tourists to experience untouched wilderness, untamed nature, and truly ‘authentic’ cultures, where the hosts, too, are part of a discourse about the ‘other’ and ourselves, about wildness, danger and roots.


Tourism is important for Africa: international tourist arrivals to Africa continue to grow, income from tourism is crucial to national economies, and tourism investments are considered among the most profitable. This edited volumedeals with the interaction of local communities with tourists coming into their areas and villages. Based upon a common theoretical approach, fourteen cases of African tourism are discussed which involve direct contact between ‘hosts’ and ‘guests’.

The viewpoint throughout is from the side of the locals, establishing how the processes of interaction shape each small scale destination. Crucial in Africa is the fact that the large majority of tourism is game oriented and the interaction between locals and visitors is very much ‘tainted’ by this fact. Central is the notion of the tourist bubble – the infrastructure that is generated locally (and internationally) for hosting tourists, as it is this institutional interface that tends to impact on the local society and culture, not the tourists themselves directly. The examples come from all over Africa, from the Sahara to the Eastern Cape, and from Kenyato Ghana. All contributions are based upon original fieldwork.


Walter van Beek is professor of anthropology at Tilburg University and Senior Researcher at the African Studies Centre, Leiden; Annette Schmidt is curatorof the African department at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, and is an archaeologist with a long experience in cultural management projects.

Daftar Isi

Foreword – Valene Smith

African dynamics of cultural tourism – Walter E A Van Beek

African dynamics of cultural tourism – PART I Culture, Identity & Tourism – Annette M. Schmidt

To dance or not to dance: Dogon masks as a tourist arena – Walter E A Van Beek

Semiotics & the political economy of tourism in the Sahara – Georg Klute

‘How much for Kunta Kinte?!’ Sites of memory & diasporan encounters in West Africa – Kim C. Warren

‘How much for Kunta Kinte?!’ Sites of memory & diasporan encounters in West Africa – Elizabeth Mac Gonagle

Imitating heritage tourism: a virtual tour of Sekhukhuneland, South Africa – PART II At the Fringe of the Parks – Ineke van Kessel

Hosts & guests: stereotypes & myths of international tourism in the Okavango Delta, Botswana – Joseph Mbaiwa

Kom ‘n bietjie kuier: Kalahari dreaming with the Khomani San – Kate Finlay and Shanade Barnabas

Treesleeper camp: a case study of community tourism in Tsintsabis, Namibia – Stasja Koot

‘The lion has become a cow’: the Maasai hunting paradox – Vanessa Wijngaarden

The organization of hypocrisy? Juxtaposing tourists & farm dwellers in game farming in South Africa – Shirley Brooks

The organization of hypocrisy? Juxtaposing tourists & farm dwellers in game farming in South Africa – Marja Spierenburg

The organization of hypocrisy? Juxtaposing tourists & farm dwellers in game farming in South Africa – PART III Intensive Contact – Harry Wels

Backpacking in Africa – Ton van Egmond

‘I’m not a tourist. I’m a volunteer’: tourism, development & international volunteerism in Ghana – Eiliadh Swan

Becoming ‘real African kings & queens’: chieftaincy, culture & tourism in Ghana – Marijke Steegstra

Sex trade & tourism in Kenya: close encounters between the hosts & the hosted – Wanjohi Kibicho

Host-guest encounters in a Gambian ‘love’ bubble – Lucy Mc Combes

Afterword. Trouble in the bubble: comparing African tourism with the Andes trail – Annelou Ypeij

Tentang Penulis

Walter E.A. van Beek held a joint appointment as Professor of Anthropology of Religion at Tilburg University and the African Studies Centre Leiden. Now retired from Tilburg, he continues as Senior Researcher at the ASCL. His books include (with Oumar Ongoiba and Atime Saye) Singing with the Dogon Prophet (2022).