Marketing ‘Africa’: Exploring colonial legacies in the contemporary tourism industry
| dc.contributor.author | De Bruycker, Britney | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-01-13T07:08:59Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-01-13T07:08:59Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study aims to examine how the African tourism industry represents itself to international tourists, by exploring the tourism industry of four African countries, i.e. South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania and Rwanda, through focusing on language and images in selected travel agency websites (including the national tourism departments). The selected countries reflect the differing nature of the colonial experience and vary in colonial histories, geographic location, and prominence in the African tourism industry. The research adopts a qualitative methodology, examining websites from different travel agencies in each African country, using a textual and visual approach. An interview with a marketer from South Africa was conducted to obtain further insight into the thinking behind the tourism campaigns. The focus was on the dilemmas faced by image makers in either perpetuating or contesting colonial stereotypes in representing South Africa to international tourists. The study found that these stereotypes, namely general stereotypes about Africa, African people and the colonial legacies, were indeed commonly found in the marketing of South Africa, Namibia and Tanzania. Rwanda differed in some key respects, as the Rwandan marketing hardly revealed any colonial legacies and perpetuated only a few stereotypes about African people. Marketers found it difficult to abandon the stereotypes due to the lack of awareness of certain stereotypes and because of marketing purposes as they play into the preconceived ideas that tourists have about African countries and its inhabitants. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21679 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Western Cape | |
| dc.subject | Africa | |
| dc.subject | Tourism | |
| dc.subject | Tourism Geographies | |
| dc.subject | Marketing | |
| dc.subject | Tourist Advertising | |
| dc.title | Marketing ‘Africa’: Exploring colonial legacies in the contemporary tourism industry | |
| dc.type | Thesis |