TexasScholarWorks
    • Login
    • Submit
    View Item 
    •   Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    • Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Selling the African wilds : a history of the safari tourism industry in East Africa, 1900-1939

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    SIMMONS-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf (50.68Mb)
    Date
    2015-12-02
    Author
    Simmons, Trevor Mark
    0000-0002-0120-0667
    Share
     Facebook
     Twitter
     LinkedIn
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This dissertation examines the rise and development of the safari tourism industry in the British East Africa Protectorate (later Kenya) between 1900 and 1939. It shows how the establishment of British rule and the introduction of modern transportation technology made East Africa accessible and gradually transformed the region into a tourist attraction of great economic value that would come to be managed by imperial powers, advertised in a globalized marketplace, and visited by tourists who desired to hunt, photograph, and observe East Africa’s abundant wildlife on an adventure known as the “safari.” It became a lucrative business. Numerous outfitters, safari and travel companies, guides, and other safari workers entered the business and helped to make the industry a model of its kind in Africa. As the safari trade expanded and animal populations came under pressure, however, this industry began to adopt new, eco-friendly forms of wildlife tourism that could preserve the main elements of the tourist safari while reducing its toll on wildlife populations, a shift exemplified by the introduction of motorized tours, photographic and filmmaking safaris, and the quest to establish national parks. The research presented in this study, drawn from archival collections across three continents, demonstrates that the four decades between 1900 and 1939 became a crucial phase in the development of safari tourism in Kenya. During this time, safari tourism became a leading sector of the regional economy and gave rise to a highly developed commercial and institutional infrastructure that laid the foundations of modern wildlife tourism in Kenya. At the same time, the safari industry became a product of the British Empire, shaped by the laws, institutions, and attitudes of colonial rule. While the introduction of British rule and the arrival of British colonists promoted tourist development, built roads and railways, ensured a degree of security demanded by travelers, and linked foreign tourists with Africa, it also relegated indigenous Africans to subordinate positions in the industry, and forcibly relocated African settlements to make way for parks and tourist spaces. This meant that the prerogatives of the tourism industry often clashed with indigenous ideas of land use and economic management, instead serving the interests of the British community in Kenya who owned and controlled the trade. Thus, the development of safari tourism under the aegis of the British colonial state aided the material development of the industry, but also created economic, social, and racial inequalities that remain evident to the present day.
    Department
    History
    Subject
    Safari
    Tourism
    Africa
    Kenya
    British Empire
    Wildlife
    Conservation
    Hunting
    Environment
    Travel
    Adventure
    Safari trade
    Safari industry
    Sustainable tourism
    Sustainable wildlife tourism
    Sustainable safaris
    Tourism and economy
    Safari tourism infrastructure
    British colonial rule
    Safari industry development
    Tourism and colonial rule
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/2152/63902
    Collections
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      Music and tourism in Cusco, Peru: culture as a resource 

      LaBate, Elizabeth Ann (2009-05)
      This dissertation explores music in Cusco, Peru found in the festivals and other performance contexts related to tourism. The central thesis considers what happen when culture becomes a resource for socio-economic development. ...
    • Thumbnail

      A project for tourism development in the Serra Gaúcha 

      Wahlberg, Molly Anne (2013-05)
      In 2004, the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism launched the Tourism Regionalization Program (Roteiros do Brasil), which presented new prospects for Brazilian tourism through decentralized management. One of the goals of this ...
    • Thumbnail

      Elizabeth Diller: Regarding the Proper in Architecture 

      Diller, Elizabeth (0000-00-00)
      Audio files are EID restricted. Individuals without an EID should send an email request to apl-aaa@lib.utexas.edu.

    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin

     

     

    Browse

    Entire RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartmentsThis CollectionDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartments

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Information

    About Contact Policies Getting Started Glossary Help FAQs

    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin