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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
The Emergence of a New Subculture. Tuareg and Tourism in Niger.
| Panel |
1. Tourism in Africa
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| Paper ID | 448 |
| Author(s) |
Scholze, Marko
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | This paper concentrates on tourism in the north of Niger, were tourists travel to experience the Saharan desert and visit the nomadic Tuareg, who live in this remote area. This type of ethnic tourism represents a distinct kind of touristic activity. Tourists in the Sahara are not searching for western amenities. Instead, they seek the simplicity of life and want to learn from the Tuareg how to survive in the desert.
The paper will show, how Tuareg are getting actively involved in tourism and on which strategies and resources they rely to succeed. Tuareg, who are managing or are working as guides, drivers or cooks for one of the 40 agencies in the town of Agadez are making use of their traditional knowledge, skills and perceptions in their daily work. They have learned how to orientate themselves in the desert and how to train a camel. The agencies are run as family-businesses, relying heavily on their own kin to recruit their staff. Although local traditions serve as a basis, they are not sufficient to render the work of Tuareg successful. They have to appropriate modern forms of knowledge and skills like driving a four-wheel-drive in the desert, accountancy, marketing strategies and learn how to interact with tourists and european entrepreneurs. Appropriation here doesn’t mean that goods, skills and relationships are integrated in Tuareg culture unaltered. Rather, they are reinterpreted within their own cultural logic. One example is the relationship of Tuareg with european travel-agents. Foreign business-partners are integrated in the local economy by becoming a member of a network of friends and relatives. Furthermore, Tuareg, who are running an agency are often marrying european women to get a foothold on the european market. They frequently travel to Europe to visit their wives, who are staying in their home countries. While abroad, these Tuareg learn foreign languages, buy new cars or establish economic relationships with german, austrian or french travel-agents.
In becoming acquainted with the modern world those Tuareg are creating their own subculture within the Tuareg society mixing modern and traditional elements into a unique cultural blend. Likewise, they become cultural brokers for the host population. But brokerage is not limited to the contact between tourists and villagers. They are also a source of innovations in the local context, introducing new ideas, goods, behaviour and the like. In this way, Tuareg, who work in the tourism-business are much more influential on cultural change in the local context, than the tourists themselves.
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