Geographical Review of Japan Vol. 74 (Ser. B), No. 1, 62-77, 2001 Impacts of Coastal Tourism Development and Sustainability: A Geographical Case Study of Sali in the Senegalese Petite Cote Abdou Khadre DIAGNE Ph. D. candidate, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan Abstract: Since the 1970s, tourism development in the Senegalese Petite Cote has rapidly expanded, with diverse impacts in a number of spheres. The human and physical geography of the Petite Cote and its ecosystems are being powerfully shaped by the new entrepreneurial activity. What changes, positive and negative, has tourism brought along the coastline? How can locals be better integrated into the tourism sector? How can sustainable tourism develop ment be effectively promoted here? To assess the impacts of coastal tourism, questionnaire surveys were conducted in 1999 and 2001 in three focal areas for tourism in Sali resort. The surveys indicate that tourism has significantly modified traditional social structure and spawned an array of new social ills, such as prostitution and theft. The tourism boom has transformed many villages into satellites for cheap menial labor. The present investigation can be usefully viewed as a concrete case study of unsustainable tourism development. Despite the fast pace of tourism expansion, it is still oriented largely to maximizing returns, with the evident exclusion of most of the local population. Numerous tourism-related pollutants now plague the environment of traditional villages. It is argued that locals should be better integrated into the tourism process and pollution must be dealt with by rigorous new measures with an aim to promoting more sustainable development in harmony with the local economy and ecology. In particular, necessary skill levels among locals must be upgraded; concomi tantly, traditional activities can be reinforced within an eco-tourism framework geared to attracting more tourists interested in an alternative type of holiday experience. Key words: tourism, social impacts, economic impacts, environmental degradation, Petite Cote, sustainable (coastal) tourism development investment regulations in June 1972, tourism Introduction has been singled out by the government as a key priority in social and economic develop Senegal, like many other ex-colonial develop ment planning. ing countries faced with the problem of worsen In 1975, the authorities set up a special com ing trade terms for agricultural products, has pany, SAPCO (Societe d'Amenagement et de Pro turned in recent decades to tourism as a possi motion de la Petite Cote) to develop tourism as ble alternative source of growth. Resources the major revenue source for reducing the inter have been utilized to upgrade the local trans national balance of payments deficits. SAPCO's portation infrastructure and construct hotels functions range from basic planning to the con designed to attract the burgeoning interna struction of infrastructure indispensable for tional coastal tourism market and its growing tourism development, such as roads, electricity, demands for "sun and sea." Over the past 30 water supply, telephone lines, etc. The number years, tourism has evolved into the chief eco of tourist arrivals has soared in recent years, nomic activity in the country, contributing nearly quadrupling from 90,000 in 1995 to more foreign currency than traditional primary 350,000 in 1998 (Ndaw 1999). According to commodity exports. Since the introduction of projections of the Ministry for Tourism and new legislation on tourism in October 1971 and Surface Transportation, between 1 and 1.5mil Impacts of Coastal Tourism 63 lion tourists are anticipated by the year 2005. ment. It is suggested that strategic planning In 1999, foreign currency revenue from tourism measures must be devised to meet the swiftly rose to more than US$ 143million (100 billion growing demand for tourist complexes while CFA Franc). taking into due account the long-term preserva Expanding coastal tourism has spurred gov tion of heritage and natural resources. At the ernment agencies and private entrepreneurs to same time, it is necessary to grapple with the seek more beachfront land for development. negative impacts associated with mounting en The Petite Cote between Dakar and Joal is espe vironmental, economic and social pressures cially well-suited for such projects and has ex (Harry and Parpairis 1995). perienced an upsurge in coastal tourism. The Previous studies boom in tourism also holds out attractive op tions for independent indigenous enterprise in In the Petite Cote, most investigations to date handicrafts, entertainment, and transportation. have examined social and economic dimen It likewise provides a key source of wages for sions, focusing largely on positive impacts in a workers in hotels and financing infrastructure period when tourism was in its infancy. These and equipment. investigations aimed at charting growth and Yet tourism development in the Petite Cote making projections for the subsequent 5-10 also has its downsides, such as new patterns of years of tourist development (Ciss 1983, Diop destructive changes in land use. Leisure facili 1986, Diouf 1987). This paper represents a first ties have been developed at the direct expense attempt to assess negative impacts and recom of agricultural cultivation. Traditional fishing, mend proposals for more sustainable develop formerly the primary local livelihood, is now at ment in the Petite Cote. Its findings may reflect the point of collapse due to the impact of hotel analogous problems elsewhere as coastal tour construction on the beaches, the narrowing of ism expands in the developing world, especially the beach landing and the prohibition of tradi in West Africa. The proposals for change and tional activities. Other physical resources such sustainable development outlined below are as unspoiled beaches have been severely de thus potentially applicable more broadly. pleted as tourism expands. International tour Previous studies on coastal tourism have ism has also impacted on traditional social tended to focus on impacts occurring on Carib structures, generating a host of new social prob bean and Pacific islands, and are generally lems such as an upsurge in crime and a break shaped by a geomorphologic perspective down of traditional Islamic codes of behavior. (Wong 1993). Elsewhere in West Africa, uncon Another undesirable byproduct has been the trolled tourist development on the barrier com trivialization of traditional culture, like com plex in Nigeria has adversely impacted on the mercialization of indigenous artistic crafts to coastal environment, causing coastal erosion, cater to the tastes of the tourist marketplace. flooding, deforestation and intrusion of salt The present research explores several interre water (Awosika and Ibe 1993:120). In addition, lated questions in a small but significant area in the proliferation of buildings along the coast coastal West Africa in Senegal, centering on a has created an excessive population density. case study of Sali resort. What changes, posi Population pressure inevitably leads to ecologi tive and negative, has tourism brought along cal imbalance, disfiguration of the coastline, the coastline? Do local residents derive con and a reduction in the attractiveness of the crete benefits from tourism? How can locals be resource (Mathieson and Wall 1982:113). In the better integrated into the tourism sector? In western Ivory Coast, several luxury tourist what ways can sustainable tourism develop complexes are now being developed, and sea ment be effectively promoted here? Using data side resorts are highly popular. The resultant from 382 questionnaires brought by field sur high coastal concentration has generated seri veys in 1999 and 2001, patterns and problems ous beach pollution, particularly along the are identified and proposals made for channel shore from Abidjan to Grand-Bassam. How ing future growth towards sustainable develop ever, studies on coastal erosion in the Ivory 64 A. K. Diagne Coast showed that construction should be pro examined changes in types of employment, hibited in the coastal zone (Abe and Afrian along with 'deskilling' of the traditional skilled 1993:106). In France, due to the impact of works and the concomitant decline of tradi seawalls, many well-known resorts, such as la tional activities such as subsistence agriculture Baule (Loire-Atlantique), Arcachon (Gironde) and traditional fishing. Social changes in life and Saint-Jean de Luz (Pyrenees Atlantiques), style, spatial displacement of some villages, and have sustained losses along their beaches and the precipitous decline in moral standards were beach erosion (Miossec 1993:173). The present also explored, along with dimensions such as paper, the first of its kind on tourism and its ecological deterioration as a result of improper diverse impacts in coastal Senegal, suggests liquid and solid waste management. In sum, the avenues for more sustainable tourism develop purpose of the present study is to reveal clearly ment. economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism on local communities in Sali resort on What is sustainability? the Petite Cote. Hunter and Green (1995) advocated that sus The organization of the paper is as follows. tainable development constitutes an important After starting with this introductory section, a key element for the management of tourism detailed description of the Petite Cote and the which integrates concern for natural,