Introduction

The task in this chapter is to furnish an introduction to the key issues surrounding tourism development across the ‘southern African region’. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines southern Africa as comprising the five countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. The region of southern Africa is defined here more broadly than the UNWTO classification to include four additional countries, namely Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which in UNWTO classifications fall into the eastern African region. All nine countries share in common the membership of the Southern African Development Community as well as the 14-country Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa (RETOSA), which has the mandate to market and promote the region in terms of forging a concrete destination identity in the international tourism market.

This analysis unfolds through four uneven sections of material. First, tourism in southern Africa is situated within a wider African and global context. Second, an overview of the key tourism products and branding of the region is provided. Third, an analysis is undertaken of the structure of the regional tourism economy and of spatial patterns of tourism flows. Finally, the last section highlights certain constraints upon tourism development in the region that affect the contribution of tourism towards sustainability in the region.

Southern Africa: The Global and African Context

According to UNWTO data, during 2005 international tourism arrivals for the first time were in excess of 800 million.