A Meta-analysis of African tourism studies

In emerging economies, particularly in many African countries, foreign researchers, government and business regard tourism as the 'saviour' because of its potential benefits including poverty alleviation, rural development, and propensity to better the lives of local people. Many tourism studies/developments in Africa were initially conducted by foreigners. This paper argues that since local support is imperative for tourism development, more African based researchers are required in African tourism studies. The aim of this analysis is to discuss the context of tourism studies in Africa. To achieve this, a meta-analysis of 90 journal articles was conducted. The articles were sourced from EBSCOhost database. The methodology, topic, keywords, country researched, author affiliation and publication year are discussed. The study recommends collaboration in African tourism, to help inform local people and minimize challenges. The study concludes by introducing the first author's on-going research as a way to investigate the concerns for Nigerian tourism.