Tourism in the Indian Ocean: Problems and prospects for Zanzibar

Abstract

Histories of the development of tourism have suggested that the most likely process at work is that of diffusion whereby new, and usually more exotic, locations are ‘discovered’ by the rich and privileged only for such locations to be later usurped by the development of mass tourism (1). Thus, yet newer and more ‘exclusive’ locations have to be sought by the relatively better‐off tourist. As the Mediterranean has become increasingly accessible to the mass tourist markets of Western Europe and North America there has been a parallel growth of the industry in the Caribbean, the Far East and the Pacific to cater for this smaller but no less significant ‘exclusive’ demand. More recently, the Indian Ocean has also seen tourist development, although in a limited number of locations. Given the continued growth of leisure in the developed world and the restless search for alternative exotic holiday destinations on the part of tour operators and developers, it seems likely that the Indian Ocean could become a major international focus for tourism development up to the end of the twentieth century.