There is always a season of weeding, planting, watering and caring before the season of harvest arrives. It’s nice to have finally received the harvest of the collaborative work that went into developing this book chapter for the edited volume of the Routledge Handbook of Critical African Heritage Studies.

Our chapter examines “The sustainability question in heritage tourism development in Africa” and we focus on cases from Morocco, Ghana and Tanzania. Many thanks to co-authors Bailey Adie Ashton who is currently based at the University of Oulu, Finland and Noel Biseko Lwoga who is the Director General of The National Museum of Tanzania and also maintains a part-time position as Senior Lecturer of Tourism and Heritage Management at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Sustainability Question in Heritage Tourism Development in Africa

Bailey Ashton Adie, Emmanuel Akwasi Adu-Ampong, Noel Biseko Lwoga

ABSTRACT

Sustainability as a construct is complex and, when applied to heritage tourism, integrates social, economic, environmental, and managerial elements. The implementation of policies to promote these aspects of sustainability can often be problematic in contexts where decision-making occurs in a hierarchical governance mode with multiple stakeholders. This is a common concern in heritage tourism management globally and is visible across the African continent, albeit in different forms dependent on local systems. The challenge of sustainability is complicated in the overlapping, yet often incompatible demands of heritage management practices and tourism development at heritage sites. Therefore, in order to provide an in-depth look at sustainability from a variety of heritage and geographic contexts, this chapter will provide brief analyses of sustainability issues of heritage tourism in three different contexts across the continent: Morocco, Ghana, and Tanzania. Drawing on key issues from these three case studies, this chapter will explore the sustainability challenges in the management and use of cultural heritage in tourism development in Africa.

The whole tome is an excellent resource for students (undergraduates, postgraduates), researchers and the general public. I am excited to have a physical copy in my home library as there is so much to learn about the key issues in Critical African Heritage Studies. Given the direction of my new ERC Starting Grant research project, I look forward to using this book as reference book that I read over and over again.

Go and check out the book and our chapter….happy reading https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Critical-African-Heritage-Studies/Sinamai-Giblin-Chirikure-Odiaua/p/book/9780367434021