Rismond Takor TOURISM IN CAMEROON Impacts of Tourism in Cameroon Thesis CENTRIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES International Business April 2021 ABSTRACT Centria University Date Author of Applied Sciences April 2021 Rismond Takor Degree Programme International Business Name of thesis TOURISM IN CAMEROON: The Impact of Tourism In Cameroon. Instructor Pages Gwendolyn Ndi, Global Bush Travel & Tour, Douala,Cameroon 50+4 Supervisor Sarah Åhman It is an unarguably fact that the introduction of Tourism Business has greatly influenced many countries in Africa and Cameroon isn’t excluded. It started in Cameroon in the 1970’s under the leadership of president Ahmadou Ahidjo, and it was quite a small sector by then. In recent times, the sector has been greatly improved and it is amongst the first 10 priorities of the nation. This thesis is aimed at identifying the extent at which tourism has contributed to the economy of Cameroon. This is going to provide recommendations to the commissioner of the thesis for a better transformation and development of its activities. The main tool used for the study was questionnaire. Due to the current location of the researcher, it was deemed appropriate to use questionnaire. Administrators who represented the researcher administered this. The responses from the questionnaire was combined with the information gathered from the theoretical part; recommendations were made to the commissioner as well as other readers who find this thesis necessary. Key words Tourism Business, Leadership, Development, Economy, Transformation. CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 2 COMMISSIONER ............................................................................................................................... 3 3 TOURISM DEFINITIONS AND RELATED TERMS .................................................................... 5 3.1 Exploration ..................................................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Excursionist .................................................................................................................................... 7 4 TOURISM IN CAMEROON .............................................................................................................. 9 4.1 Background of Cameroon ........................................................................................................... 10 4.2 Tourist Destinations in Cameroon .............................................................................................. 12 4.2.1 The Waza National Park .................................................................................................... 12 4.2.2 The Mount Cameroon National Park ............................................................................... 13 4.2.3 The Takamanda National Park ......................................................................................... 14 4.2.4 Lake Nyos ............................................................................................................................ 15 4.2.5 The Foumban Palace .......................................................................................................... 16 4.2.6 The Lake Muanenguba ...................................................................................................... 17 4.2.7 The Menchum Fall .............................................................................................................. 17 4.3 The impacts of tourism in Cameroon ......................................................................................... 18 5 TYPES OF TOURISM IN CAMEROON ....................................................................................... 20 5.1 Eco-tourism ................................................................................................................................... 20 5.2 Cultural Tourism ......................................................................................................................... 21 5.3 Health Tourism ............................................................................................................................. 22 5.4 Environmental Tourism .............................................................................................................. 22 5.5 Wild Life Tourism ........................................................................................................................ 23 6 STUDY ................................................................................................................................................ 25 6.1 Quantitative Research Method ................................................................................................... 25 6.2 Reliability and Validity ................................................................................................................ 26 7 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 27 7.1 The Questionnaire ........................................................................................................................ 27 7.2 Types of Business Ownerships .................................................................................................... 27 7.3 Social Media Platforms ................................................................................................................ 28 7.4 Modes of Payment ........................................................................................................................ 29 7.5 Continent with Most Tourists ..................................................................................................... 30 7.6 Stay Period .................................................................................................................................... 31 7.7 Types of Tourism .......................................................................................................................... 32 7.8 Difficulties in Dealing with Clients ............................................................................................. 33 7.9 Major Setbacks ............................................................................................................................. 34 7.10 Tourist Satisfaction .................................................................................................................... 35 7.11 Impacts of Tourism in Cameroon ............................................................................................ 36 7.12 Discussion of Results .................................................................................................................. 37 7.13 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 39 8 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 41 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 43 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................................... 48 FIGURES FIGURE 1………………………………………………………………………………………………14 FIGURE 2………………………………………………………………………………………………28 FIGURE 3………………………………………………………………………………………………29 FIGURE 4………………………………………………………………………………………………30 FIGURE 5………………………………………………………………………………………………31 FIGURE 6………………………………………………………………………………………………32 FIGURE 7………………………………………………………………………………………………33 FIGURE 8………………………………………………………………………………………………34 FIGURE 9………………………………………………………………………………………………35 FIGURE 10…………………………………………………………………………………………….36 FIGURE 11……………………………………………………………………………………….…....37 1 1 INTRODUCTION Generally, a well-structured tourism sector in a country would go a long way to guarantee hope for the future generation, growth to the economy, stability, and as well, a well-functioning national economy. Protecting today’s animals’ and plants’ life means creating a chance of survival for the future generation. A well-organized tourism sector goes to boost the economy of the country, creates jobs, educates and enlightens people about their environment, improvement of living standards etc. Tourism does not end in the home country, but it is also an export product to other countries, thereby selling the country’s image to the rest of the world, positively. The main aim of this thesis is to identify the extent at which tourism has contributed to the economy of Cameroon. The thesis will give a highlight of some theoretical studies made by some other authors about the main topic understudy. The background history of tourism in Cameroon, tourist destinations, challenges faced by tourists whilst in Cameroon and the various types of tourism activities practiced in Cameroon will be discussed. The objective of this thesis is to find out how the introduction of tourism business has helped to grow the economy of Cameroon. The thesis will project how many jobs the sector has created or offered to Cameroonians. I will also investigate the number of entrepreneurs that were created or encouraged as a result of the introduction of tourism business in the country. Both the theoretical and empirical parts of the study will be looked into, to see the connection