This recession might just make a visit to Timbuktu more attractive than usual. As the rate of the pound edges closer to Euro parity, demand for exotic holidays could rise. A change in travel trends in 2009 could spearhead an economic turn around for many African countries.

While holidays to exotic holidays do not come cheap, demand for these locations where exchange rates are more favorable is set to rise. Tourism known to be Africa’s largest foreign exchange earner will no doubt attract travelers from Britain. British travelers alone spent £3 billion holidaying in developing countries in the year 2000 about the same amount as their government gave in aid that year.

Parts of Africa that are relatively peaceful could see a rise in the number of foreign visitors. The violence that followed the presidential elections in Kenya in 2007 affected the country’s $1 billion a year tourism industry. There is optimism that confidence is slowly being restored and the industry will bounce back by the end of 2009. The “Obama factor” may attract tourists particularly from the United States to explore the Heritage of the new president. This is a niche being explored by some tour operators in America who are offering tours that cover the Maasai Mara as well as the village of Kogelo in Western Kenya where Barack Obama’s father was laid to rest.

One could argue that it’s difficult to see how the people in Africa as a whole have benefited from tourism. Most areas near tourist attractions remain undeveloped with no access to clean water or proper educational facilities.

Some progress has, however been made in villages near the Maasai Mara in Kenya where interactive tourism is being encouraged. Cultural visits to villages near the Maasai Mara have brought in some revenue managed by the villagers and used for community development projects such as the extension of schools and the provision of clean water sources. This has prevented some of the disruption which normally occurs as a result of tourism and has enabled the people to remain on their ancestral land. Interactive tourism also known as eco-tourism has facilitated a cultural exchange between the tourists and the indigenous people.

A boom in African tourism could help in the improvement of infrastructure such as roads most of which have been built on the back of foreign investment and aid. A collective effort by African countries to develop tourism an unspoiled export service product which most countries have, is needed to overcome the negative image the world has of the continent.