Colonial Imagery and representation in tourism marketing of African destinations. : A case study of Kenya

Sammanfattning: This research study is based on the visual marketing of African destinations and the colonial influence in a post-colonial world. Recent tourism research tourism has examined post-colonial realities in developing countries addressing the experience of British post-colonialism, however, only a few of those studies have examined the cultural consequences of tourism marketing image influence on culture and national identity. This study’s objective is to investigate the colonial imagery and visual representation of Kenya while evaluating the extent to which the colonial discourse has shaped tourism marketing in Kenya.To investigate the colonial imagery influences in destination marketing in Kenya, qualitative analysis tools such as content and discourse analysis were used to evaluate images in this study. By evaluating the images, the endeavour was to discern how marketing represents the tourism culture, the people and the place. The results conclude that the construction of Kenya’s tourism space in post-colonial times should be thought of from a neo-colonial perspective.The study mainly concludes that the images on Kenya’s tourism come out of a colonial fantasy and nostalgia that contributes to the manufacturing of ‘safari country’ initiated by the colonialist gaze. The colonial myths endure in Kenya’s tourism space and continue to shape the tourists’ fantasies as a majority of tourism marketer’s hail from western countries. The Kenya colonial myth is perpetuated through films and memoirs that depict Kenya through repeated images and analogies of beautiful prehistoric scenarios of fantasies. Like most developing countries and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenya will continue to rely on its tourism industry for foreign exchange.While this study was aimed at a practical problem, future research on this topic is recommended to find out how consuming different cultures especially of former colonies could be done ethically, and how hosts’ active inclusivity and tourist diversity marketing should be upheld as part of responsible travel for travel agencies and luxury camps.