Essay On Tourism In Africa

How Africa’s Physical Geography Effects Tourism in Africa

Africa is the world’s second largest continent as well as the world’s hottest continent on the earth. The climate in Africa often ranges from tropical to subarctic (Martin and O’Meara). Africa also has many biomes. Africa, north of the equator, consists of the biomes semiarid desert, xeric shrub land, arid desert, grass savanna, tree savanna, and tropical rainforests. While Africa South of the equator has biomes that consist of the tropical rainforest, subtropical dry forests, tree savannas, grass savannas, dry steppe, and subtropical rainforests. One can also find a pinch of the Mediterranean biome on the southern tip and in the northwest tip of Africa (Ali-Dinar). Because of the wide range of biomes that Africa has, Africa can also support many different types of wildlife species as well as different forms of plant life. It is no wonder that so many people from all over the world decide to come and visit. In the year 2010 alone, Africa had reported around 8.1 million foreign visitors (South African Tourism). But what is the true cause for all of this tourism? Is it just an increase in wanting to experience other cultures or an increase of a desire to study the rare animals that are going extinct in Africa? I think both of these could be the cause of the spike in tourism, however, the most evident cause seems to be Africa’s physical geography. Physical geography majorly impacts tourism in Africa through its beautiful natural landforms, such as Mount Kenya, the Sahara desert, Lake Victoria, and the beautiful Watamu beaches, and by its vast variety of biomes that supply many homes to unique wildlife.

One of the biggest tourists’ attractions is from a natural mountain call...

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...idn’t have its unique physical geography to influence it. The unique animals that tourists often view and study only live there because Africa’s biomes can support them. The mountains that tourists climb did not just pop out of the ground one day, rather it took millions of years for it to form. The beautiful lakes that the tourist may go and fish in also took a while to form. Same goes for the sand dunes. They formed because of the dry climate and the winds that that area of Africa has. The cultures that I discussed above would not be around for us to study had Kenya never formed a volcano to produce ash and in later years create very fertile volcanic soils on which these cultures lived off of. So as one can see, physical geography has a huge impact on tourism in Africa. Without Africa’s unique physical geography, there really wouldn’t be much of a reason to visit.