Tourist Region: The African Great Lakes

The African Great Lakes region is located near the equator in East Africa. It includes 7 main lakes and surrounding countries.

Most of the region has a tropical climate with temperatures remaining warm all year round. This means it has a dry season and a wet season.

Lake Victoria is one of the largest lakes in the world. The amount of water contained in all the lakes represents nearly 25% of the totality of the planet's liquid freshwater^[1].

The African Great Lakes region is best known for its natural attractions. It draws many visitors interested in nature tourism. It also offers cultural attractions related to the traditions and lifestyles of its inhabitants. Here are just a few of them.

Zanzibar is an archipelago located along the Tanzanian coast in the Indian Ocean. It is made up of numerous small islands and two larger ones: Unjuga and Pemba.

Zanzibar is a popular destination for relaxation, known for its beautiful sandy beaches and cultural attractions. Many activities are available, including snorkeling, scuba-diving and deep-sea excursions.

The old stone town is a reminder of Zanzibar's colonial past with traces of European and Arab influences. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The African Great Lakes region offers a number of amenities to enable tourists to visit its many natural attractions. Safaris, for example, allow visitors to observe the sub-Saharan wildlife of the region in their natural habitat.

The governments of these regions support the influx of tourists and have invested in infrastructure to encourage tourism.

In 2019, over 12 million tourists visited the African Great Lakes region^[4]. To accommodate these tourists, the region's governments and tourism organizations put in place measures to guarantee tourist safety while protecting the most visited sites.

One of the main concerns with regard to tourism in the region is the protection of flora and fauna, particularly endangered species. As a result, some areas have been designed to cause as little disturbance as possible to the animals. In the Serengeti National Reserve and the Masai Mara Reserve, for example, animals move freely and are not enclosed behind fences, so as not to disrupt their natural migration patterns. Tourists wishing to visit these areas are accompanied by qualified park staff to ensure their safety while observing the animals. Revenues generated by entrance fees are used to cover the costs of tourism management.

Tourism has a positive impact on the economy of the African Great Lakes region. For this reason, governments are keen to invest in infrastructure that facilitates tourism and encourages people to visit the region.

Governments have put in place services to facilitate the stay of tourists. These services include reception posts, guides, patrols, first-aid attendants and so on. In recent years, major investments have been allocated to developing roads for vehicles and coaches.

Emphasis has also been placed on developing online infrastructures to facilitate the planning and booking of trips. Numerous tourism websites are managed by government tourism offices. They offer a wealth of information on places to visit, accommodation and transportation.

The Great Lakes region offers different types of accommodation to suit every tourist's needs. Tourists can choose from chalets, villas, luxury hotels and canvas camps.

Air travel is the most common means of transportation used by tourists in the African Great Lakes region. It's the quickest and most convenient way to get from one tourist attraction to another.

Another common way to get around is by renting a car. These vehicles are particularly popular with safari tourists. However, even if some roads are paved, road access can be difficult. This is why SUVs are generally the vehicle of choice.

Other means of transportation include boats and trains. Boats are used to reach resorts that can only be reached by sea, such as those on the island of Zanzibar. Although trains connect most of the popular tourist attractions, they are the least popular mode of transport, as they are not well maintained.

Tourism is becoming one of the most important sectors of the East African economy. It contributes an average of 10% of the GDP of countries in the region and accounts for about 7% of jobs^[5]. In 2019, the region welcomed nearly 7 million tourists^[5]. The tourism sector is essential for ensuring the socio-economic development of several countries. Sustainable development of this sector can help reduce poverty, generate income for governments and contribute to the protection of wildlife.

However, countries in the region face a number of obstacles in the development of tourism.

Tourism in the African Great Lakes region is a rapidly developing economic sector, based almost entirely on natural attractions. Its development, however, involves many challenges for the region's environment and natural surroundings.

Many facilities and infrastructures need to be built to accommodate tourists, such as roads, lodging and hotels and restaurants. These developments destroy natural environments and disturb the animals that live there. As an example, baboons sometimes feed on garbage left by tourists.

The large number of tourists also has a negative impact on the environment in the African Great Lakes region, particularly when it comes to safaris. This type of activity can be very damaging to natural environments, because:

• several vehicle crossings destroy vegetation and disturb animals

• the large number of vehicles causes traffic jams on national park trails

• animals' breeding, migration and hunting habits are disrupted

The tourism sector is also causing increased pollution in the region. The construction of new infrastructure pollutes water sources and soil, as does the waste left behind by tourists. The increase in road traffic and especially air traffic contributes enormously to air pollution and ultimately, to climate change.

One of the solutions to counter the negative consequences of tourism on flora and fauna is first and foremost to raise awareness and educate tourists about the importance of conserving natural habitats. Some tourists may behave in ways that are highly damaging, such as:

• getting too close to the animals to take better photos
• asking guides if they can pet wild animals
• throwing garbage on the ground in the animals' natural habitat
• travelling off marked trails and roads

In the African Great Lakes region, tourism can bring various challenges for local populations. Yet, these communities are essential to ensure the conservation and protection of natural environments.

Cohabiting With Wildlife

Local populations are sometimes one of the most important threats to animal conservation in the African Great Lakes region. The sharing of resources between the population and animal species can sometimes be difficult. Most live in poverty and many make their living from farming or herding. Wild animals eat the produce in the fields and gardens, seriously jeopardizing the locals’  livelihood. What's more, some predators, such as lions, pose a threat to livestock. To prevent this, some locals kill animals that venture onto their land, seriously compromising the survival of these species.

To address these problems, collaboration with the local population is essential to animal conservation.

Loss of Territory or Forced Displacement

Protecting flora and fauna requires the creation of protected areas, such as nature parks and reserves. However, the creation of these areas often entails the expulsion and forced displacement of many people. These people are forced to find new homes elsewhere, sometimes with very little compensation.

In addition, residents living near these areas often see the size of their agricultural fields and pastures shrink. This can lead to problems of overgrazing, as cattle are kept on increasingly smaller areas.

The Economic Stakes of Tourism

Tourism in the African Great Lakes region entails certain economic stakes for local populations. The tourism sector brings enormous profits to a country. However, the revenues generated by these activities go to foreign investors and the owners of large luxury hotels and restaurants. Some local populations see very little economic benefit for their communities and this is the case in Tanzania. Even if the country is considered a high-end destination, a third of the population lives below the poverty line.

Although tourism is an industry with the potential to create many jobs, the work is often seasonal and requires few qualifications. This puts workers at greater risk of exploitation and abuse.

Acculturation of Local Populations

The presence of thousands of tourists each year in the Great Lakes region brings residents and people from different cultures into contact as well as changes to the territory to meet tourists’ needs. While these exchanges can bring positive elements, they can also have negative impacts.

It is possible to reconcile the protection of natural environments and wildlife with tourism. Indeed, several East African countries are trying to move towards sustainable tourism.

Sustainable tourism aims to strike a balance between environmental, social and economic aspects. It also addresses a number of population-related issues. Governments and stakeholders in the tourism sector need to put in place policies that both protect the flora and fauna while ensuring that a portion of the profits are invested in local communities. Tourism-related profits also enable governments to invest more money in implementing conservation policies.

There are many ways to develop sustainable tourism. Each country implements different measures.

• In Tanzania, the government banned the construction of new hotels on the Serengeti Plain for 10 years in order to reduce the number of tourists visiting the park. The number of nature parks and reserves has increased, which means that 10% of the country's territory is now a protected area^[8].

• To ensure better protection of the flora and fauna, the government of Uganda has put in place very strict rules concerning gorilla observation. The number of visitors is limited to 20 per day, and there is a maximum number of observation hours for each group.

• In Kenya, the government aims to introduce various measures and regulations to better supervise tourism, such as:

  • permit requirements to work as a guide and set up camps

  • mandatory tickets to limit visiting time for tourists

  • reducing traffic in overcrowded areas

  • diversifying tourism offerings to lesser-known locations

Conservation of natural environments must be done in collaboration with local populations. In order to do this, they must be educated about the importance of conserving natural environments, and revenues from the tourism sector must be reinvested directly in these communities.

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