Third International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Tourism has been considered as big driver for human development around the World. Yet, some literature has pointed out also tourism as generating social inequality and marginalization, natural resources depletion and acculturation, especially in developing countries. This paper aims to explain the negative social representation of tourism that rural communities surrounding the National park of La Langue de Barbarie in northern Senegal, hold as a result of having been marginalized either from the decision of creating the protected area and from the control and benefits subsequently generated by the tourist activity developed there. Although the majority of inhabitants exhibit very deep Muslim religious beliefs and most of them state that tourism around performs against their culture and religion, local society’ attitudes towards tourism are not homogeneous neither inside nor between communities. A model of multiple correlations leads to a cluster analysis that allow for distinguishing four social groups defined against two dimensions. Differences between groups remit to location, benefits from tourism and some socio-demographic characteristics. Results will be useful assist policy makers interested in promoting tourism as development driver in rural communities of northern Senegal.