Landscapes of Mount Kilimanjaro Tourism: Residual, Dominant, Emerging, and Excluded Cultures

Abstract

The government of Tanzania has promoted tourism as a way to increase economic development and diversification in the country. Due in part to these efforts, tourism has become a top foreign exchange earner for the country. However, the extent to which tourism is leading to economic development through its proposed multiplier effects is not always clear. Often those communities that lie next to the tourist attractions or national parks and those who work in the tourism service sector do not benefit tourism development initiatives. This dissertation provides a case study of Mount Kilimanjaro tourism in order to examine the relationships and impacts of tourism development in this region. By using a theoretical framework of the residual, dominant, emerging, and excluded cultures within the tourism sector, the tourism sector in Mount Kilimanjaro can be better understood. This study utilizes data from participant observation, surveys and semi-structured interviews of service workers in the Mount Kilimanjaro tourism industry. I argue that the Mount Kilimanjaro tourism initiatives often serve to further marginalize those who live next to the national park and the service workers upon which the industry relies, and as such, is not achieving the proposed development initiatives.