SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT IN CENTRAL AFRICA: A CASE STUDY OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN CAMEROON. ALBERT NSOM KIMBU A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Nottingham Business School Nottingham Trent University May 2010 © Albert N. Kimbu Copyright Statement This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights. II Abstract The tourism industry in sub-Saharan Africa has been experiencing one of the fastest growth rates in the last decade at more than 10% in 2006, +7% in 2007 and +5% in 2008 and 2009 respectively and this positive trend is predicted to continue in future in spite of the present global recession. However, there are significant variations in tourism growth between the various countries and different sub-regions. Until now, there has been no detailed examination by researchers to find out the reasons for these variations in general and the stagnation and even decline in tourism growth observed in countries of the Central African sub-region in particular, which have recognised natural and socio-cultural potentials of developing a thriving sustainable tourism industry. Using Cameroon as a case study, this research examines the reasons of this stagnation in the Central African sub-region, and explores the possibility of tailoring, adapting and/or applying the key concepts of sustainable tourism in developing and managing the tourism industry in the Central African sub-region which is still at an early stage of development through the conception of a strategic framework for sustainable tourism development management in Cameroon. The principal objectives of the thesis are: a. To identify and outline the growth potential of the tourism industry in Cameroon as a means of improving the socio-economic conditions of the local communities. b. To examine the contradictions and challenges facing the development of a viable sustainable tourism industry in Cameroon. c. To determine how far sustainable tourism concepts successfully applied in other countries can be adapted and used in developing and managing the tourism potential of Cameroon in particular, and its sub-region. The research philosophy is interpretive and it adopts the case study (which is both exploratory and descriptive) as the research strategy. Mixed methods were used in collecting data for this research which combines both the deductive and inductive approaches, the former being the secondary approach and the latter being the primary. Primary data was obtained through a tourist satisfaction questionnaire, in- depth semi-structured interviews and field observations while secondary quantitative data was collected from existing published literature on (sustainable) tourism, grey literature and unpublished documents from the Ministry of Tourism as well as the III Ministry of Forestry and Fauna in Cameroon. The questionnaire data was analysed with the aid of the SPSS (Version 15) statistical package, and a thematic content analysis was done of the interview transcripts and observation notes. The results of the data analysis not only answer the research objectives and questions, but also identify core and enabling themes affecting the management of the development of a sustainable tourism industry in Cameroon. These include issues dealing with the overall tourism policy, finance, tourism promotion and marketing, stakeholder relationships, service infrastructure, human resource development, as well as national and sub-regional peace and stability. Drawing from theoretical and successfully implemented practical models of sustainable (tourism) development in other developing destinations, the study concludes by proposing a strategic framework for sustainable tourism development management in Cameroon as well as suggestions for future research. IV Acknowledgement This thesis is dedicated to my family – my parents Pa Nicodemus Kimbu and Ma Mary Kimbu and my wife Lana Kimbu who have always believed in me. Special thanks to them for their patience, encouragement and unwavering support throughout my studies. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and utmost respect to my Director of Studies, the Reverend Professor Myra Shackley for her steadfast and unwavering support, advice and guidance throughout my PhD. She was not only an excellent supervisor but a moral pillar on which I could lean on all through the course of the research and a living example to emulate. I am also very grateful to Dr Carley Foster, my second supervisor for her unwavering support and keen insights provided throughout the research. Special thanks also go to Dr Mark Weinstein and Dr Matt Henn for their comments and advice on my research and for not throwing me out in spite of me constantly and sometimes unceremoniously barging into their offices. I am deeply indebted to the officials of the Ministries of Tourism and Culture, tour operators, cultural managers and conservators of national parks and the palaces I visited, for their hospitality and unwavering support during my enriching fieldtrip to Cameroon. I would like to thank all the other participants not mentioned above for their contribution without which it would not have been impossible for this study to be accomplished. Finally, I wish to express my sincere thanks to the Nottingham Trent University for the VC research award which financed my research at NTU. V TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...................................................................................................... I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................V TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................VI LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................... XIV LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................... XVII LIST OF MAPS ........................................................................................... XIX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................... XX 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION.......................................................................1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Research background....................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Research aims and objectives......................................................................................... 4 1.3 Rationale of the research ................................................................................................. 5 1.4 Structure of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 6 2. THE EVOLUTION OF TOURISM: CONCEPTS AND ISSUES ...................9 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 10 2.1 Factors responsible for growth in tourism................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Decreasing cost of air travel ...................................................................................... 12 2.1.2 Charters/package tours, prosperity and the emergence of new destinations ........... 13 2.1.3 Developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) ...................... 15 2.1.4 Increased curiosity, awareness and education of the modern day tourist................. 19 2.2 Impacts of tourism .......................................................................................................... 20 2.2.1 Positive impacts of tourism on the environment ........................................................ 20 VI 2.2.2 Negative environmental impacts................................................................................ 22 2.2.2.1 Pollution .............................................................................................................. 22 2.2.2.2 Depletion of natural resources............................................................................ 23 2.2.2.3. Physical impacts................................................................................................ 24 2.2.3 Socio-cultural impacts of tourism development ......................................................... 25 2.2.3.1 Congestion.......................................................................................................... 26 2.2.3.2 Conflicts .............................................................................................................. 26 2.2.3.3 Erosion of traditional values and norms ............................................................. 26 2.2.3.4 Prostitution, human trafficking and crime ........................................................... 27 2.2.4 Economic impacts of tourism development ............................................................... 28 2.2.4.1 Competition........................................................................................................