The Development and Impact of Tourism in Livingstone, Zambia

Abstract

Tourism has grown throughout the modern era to become one of the largest global industries today. As tourism has expanded, it has also changed, and is now considered as a vehicle for development and sustainability, compared to its modernist principles of the 1970’s. As a result of this change, an increasing body of literature is now available on tourism’s potential for economic growth and social development, especially in the developing world, where it is claimed that tourism is growing faster than elsewhere.

The city of Livingstone on Zambia’s southern border provides an interesting setting to analyse the development and impact of tourism, since exponential tourism growth over the last 20 years has altered the social and physical landscape of the city. Growth of the industry can be attributed to a number of factors, including political instability in neighbouring Zimbabwe, and the economic liberalisation of the Zambian economy.

Literature on tourism growth in Livingstone is focused predominantly on the economic incentives that tourism provides, and generally ignores the social context and impact on the local population. This thesis, therefore, analyses the growth and impact of tourism in Livingstone through a development perspective, bringing to light the impact that tourism has had specifically on the local community. Whether these impacts have been positive or negative in their nature is examined through a number of different scenarios, assessing the overall position that local people find themselves in as tourism has grown around them.