THE EMERGENCE OF DIASPORA TOURISM by David J. Saunders
Global tourism is a dominant economic sector in many developing countries. In 2012 international tourist arrivals numbered 940 million and tourism receipts generated $919 billion. While France remained the world’s number one tourist destination, China has become the world’s third biggest tourism spender. In the first four months of 2011, international tourist arrivals grew by 4.5 percent despite turmoil in certain regions of the world, most notably the Middle East and North Africa, which experienced 7 percent and 11 percent decreases in tourism arrivals respectively. Some regions achieved double-digit growth in tourism, South America experienced a 17 percent increase, South Asia a 14 percent increase, and South-East Asia a 10 percent increase.
For many developing countries, tourism serves as a primary source of foreign earnings, fuels job creation, and stimulates other sectors, such as tele-communications, finance and construction infrastructure as well as natural resource conservation, that are important for development. In fact, the share of international tourist arrivals in emerging and developing countries has risen over the past two decades, from 31 percent in 1990 to 47 percent in 2010. The average annual growth in international tourist arrivals between 2000 and 2010 was 5.6 percent among emerging economies, a much higher growth rate than the annual 1.8 percent among industrialized economies. In 1990 emerging economies had 139 million tourist arrivals compared to 296 million among industrialized economies but by 2010 the gap had decreased dramatically with emerging economies and advanced economies reaching 442 million and 498 million tourist arrivals, respectively.
Diaspora populations can play a unique and important role in opening emerging markets for new tourism destinations as well as markets for consumer goods produced in and associated with the cultures of their countries of origin. Tourists from the Diaspora are more likely than other international travelers to have or make connections with the indigenous people and local economy. They may for example, opt to stay in small, locally owned accommodations (or with relatives), eat in local restaurants, and shop in locally owned shops for souvenirs rather than go to enclave tourist destinations that are isolated from the local economy and culture.
Given the unique role that these Diaspora populations can play in helping developing countries expand their tourism sectors, some governments and organizations have already begun to encourage and promote tourist visits from Diaspora communities. In fact, many African countries have benefited from organizing a yearly “visit your country” trip that foster long lasting ties between the home country and the Diaspora such as in Senegal and The Gambia with their Roots Homecoming Festival, Ghana with its Panafest Festival, Ethiopia with its Northern Historic Route, and South Africa with its newly established Footsteps of Mandela Tour. As a result, many Diaspora abroad when visiting these African countries decided to purchase homes and/or established businesses with a view towards retiring in their ancestral homeland.
Accordingly, at least three major types of tourism attract Diaspora visitors that have potential for application to African nations: heritage tourism, business tourism and medical tourism. A brief summary of these types of tourism are listed below.
Promoting Heritage Tourism
Heritage tourism centers on history, culture, and identity. The term is often used to refer to visits of cultural heritage sites, such as those designated as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In 2011, 48 percent of all UNESCO World Heritage Sites were located across fifty European and North American countries, while 9 percent were found in thirty African states, 7 percent in sixteen Arab states, 22 percent in thirty-one Asia-Pacific states, and 14 percent in twenty-six Latin American and Caribbean states. Such sites attract many international tourists every year and serve as an important development resource for developing countries as they attract international funds for their restoration and preservation in addition to regular tourist revenue.
A. Genealogy Tourism. Heritage tourism also takes other forms that specifically involve Diasporas. Genealogy tourism, often referred to by African Americans as “Roots” tourism, for example, enables members of the Diaspora to research their family trees and ancestry in their countries of origin on the African continent. A few public-private initiatives have helped Diasporas locate documentation on their ancestors. For instance, African Ancestry provides an opportunity for individuals and families to obtain relevant background information as they attempt to retrace their ancestry. UNESCO also supports the development of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT), an initiative launched by the government of Bermuda in 2002 to preserve and explain the trans-Atlantic slave trade and artifacts of slave life.
B. Cultural Tourism. Governments can also attract attention from both within and outside their countries when they support and celebrate national anniversaries or cultural heritage through annual celebrations or festivals. As previously stated, these include Senegal and The Gambia with their Roots Homecoming Festival, Ghana with its Panafest Festival, and South Africa with its newly established Footsteps of Mandela Tour. These types of celebrations and festivals have the potential to attract large number of visitors from around the world to assemble in each country to celebrate their various cultural heritages and contributions to the world.
C. Religious or Faith Tourism. The number of individuals visiting destinations around the world for religious or spiritual reasons is on the rise. North Americans alone spend over $10 billion annually on religious tourism, traveling as groups or individuals for pilgrimage, missionary, volunteer, or fellowship purposes. Every year approximately two million Muslims visit Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, an estimated seventy million Hindus visit the Ganges River each year in January and February, and many migrants visit the shrines of local Sufi saints. Other tours involve birthplaces of major religious figures, such a Pope John Paul II’s home country of Poland. A very successful religious tourism program has been operating in Ethiopia known as the Historic Holy Land Tour that showcases the various religious and cultural attractions of the early Ethiopian church and its ongoing inter-relationship with the Jewish faith.
D. Birthright Tourism Programs. Birthright programs aim to deepen the ties between Diaspora communities and their ancestral homelands. Most countries with such programs tend to have a strong sense of national identity that transcends territory, a close knit transnational community, and a firm commitment to perpetuating their identity, especially among second and subsequent generations. A recent example of this is the promotion of Kenya as the ancestral homeland of President Barack Obama. Exposure programs can offer study tours for youth, academic exchange programs, and VIP tours for business travelers and government officials. Such tourism programs are usually offered under public-private partnerships and offer intense emotional engagement with the country of origin.
Promoting Business Tourism
When Diaspora groups or individuals visit countries for business, including for occasions such as corporate retreats and/or trade conferences, they inevitably utilize conference facilities and hotels. Governments, in partnership with private companies, market such conference facilities and accommodations to business leaders and professional associations through websites. To court high net-worth members of the Diaspora, governments and local companies can work in tandem to actively promote and introduce business opportunities to potential investors or entrepreneurs, combining information sessions and site visits to local businesses with tourist excursions to local attractions. Establishing good relationships with potential business partners can serve as a key strategy in attracting long-term investments to fuel sustainable growth in the tourism sector.
Promoting Medical Tourism
A number of countries and regions market themselves as destinations for medical tourism by offering high-quality medical infrastructure, expertise, and services at competitive prices. The Philippines, India, Taiwan Province of China, and Cuba, for example, all have strong medical tourism campaigns that raise awareness among and seek support from Diaspora members regarding their medical services. As a result, many Diaspora members have invested, volunteered, or made philanthropic contributions to the medical sectors of their respective home countries. In general, however, it is difficult to grasp the scale of Diaspora investment and participation in medical tourism, since investments are not disaggregated by populations. It should be noted that South Africa has made medical tourism a focus of their overall strategy for attracting tourist and much more could be done to connect other African countries that have adequate medical infrastructure to their Diasporas.
Challenges for Diaspora Tourism
The many forms of Diaspora tourism provide a wide range of opportunities for developing countries to grow their tourism sectors and thus contribute to their economic development. However, African nations in particular must take into consideration a number of important factors that may influence the level of Diaspora tourism (and tourism in general) in their respective countries.
A. Ensure Fundamental Safety and Security. Diaspora members are as sensitive as any tourists to the threats posed by armed conflict, lawlessness, pervasive corruption, and dangerous transportation infrastructure. Governments should ensure that they are able to satisfy basic safety and security standards if they seriously wish to increase tourism levels in their nations.
B. Ensure Professional Tourism Services. Diaspora members are likewise as sensitive as any tourists to the lack of quality trained professionals in the tourism industry. This would include the personnel working in airports, hotels, restaurants, and with tour operators. It is very important that African countries become familiar with the specific nuances of their Diaspora clients who have traveled the world and know when they are not being treated in a professional manner as well as not respected since they will decided to take their money elsewhere.
C. Keep Benefits in Targeted Communities/Nations. While tourism is a fun, educational, and sometimes emotional activity for visitors, it is also a lifeline and way of life for many locals. To maximize the development potential of tourism, governments and other organizations should promote programs and trips that deepen connections and relationships between tourists and host populations. Diaspora tourists bring unique benefits to the tourism industry as they are more likely to have the linguistic skills, contacts, and general knowledge necessary to actively engage with local people and businesses.
D. Respect Visiting Diasporas. Governments and tourist industry leaders should be extremely sensitive to any trends of hostility or unwelcoming attitudes toward tourists, including those from the Diaspora. For all their connections and even family members, Diaspora members are perceived differently from locals, some members of the community may even resent Diaspora members with whom they feel socio-economic, ethnic, religious, or political differences. Keeping these issues in mind, governments would do well to make special efforts to court Diaspora tourists, since they are likely to be involved with their ancestral homelands over the long run.
E. Address Visa and Mobility Limitations. Governments should know that limitations on mobility can affect the number of tourists in any given year. While revenues from visa fees are important, liberating and lifting travel restrictions by implementing visa-free travel regimes can encourage individuals to increase duration of travel to their countries, consume local products, and use local services.
F. Cater to Generational Differences. Government and tourism industry leaders should be attentive to the different tastes and interests among tourists of different generations. First-generation members of the Diaspora who fled their countries as refugees due to conflict may be averse to returning to their countries of origin. Second and third generation members, however, may be more curious to discover and learn about their ancestral roots. In other cases, the opposite is true: first-generation Diaspora populations maintain close contact with their countries of origin, while subsequent generations have little if any interest in their ancestral roots. The key for growing the tourism sector is to promote and advertise suitable tourism campaigns directed at specific populations.
G. Avoid Over-reliance on the Tourism Sector. Tourism is an essential industry in many developing countries as it creates jobs, promotes infrastructure development, and provides vital foreign exchange. However, governments should be cautious in relying too heavily on the tourism industry for spurring national development. Many commercial banks, for example, are reluctant to offer loans to countries that do not have other more stable sources of income such as heavy industries. When recessions, conflicts, financial crises, or natural disasters occur, tourism receipts and tourist visits can drop dramatically. Without other forms of steady revenue, governments can find themselves in an unsustainable situation.
About the Author: David J. Saunders is the Chief Executive Officer of Venue International Professionals, Inc. – a full-service travel and tourism consulting company focusing on tourism destinations on the African Continent. He is also an advisor to many African countries about Diaspora Tourism initiatives.
