Développement du tourisme dans le département du Mfoundi : une contribution problématique des agences de tourisme

Abstract

Cameroon is endowed with several tourist potentials unequally distribution its main towns such as Yaounde. These potentials are more and more planned and benefit from a certain promotion from the state and more especially tourism agencies whose creation in the town of Yaoundé has been revealed capital. The contribution of tourism agencies being determinant in the development of the tourism activity, its relevant giving it more attributions thus the topic “development of tourism in the Mfoundi division: A problematic contribution of tourism agencies”. This topic is inscribed in the general thematic titled “tourism and development” and derives from the specific axis “tourism activities”. This topic is aimed at demonstrating that, the contribution of tourism agencies in the development of tourism activities in the town of Yaounde is limited thus leading to the decline of the activity. Tourism agencies have as principal roles the advertisement and promotion of tourism in Cameroon in order to attract the maximum number of tourists and ensure the development of tourism in the town. Meanwhile, the town of Yaounde possesses numerous natural and cultural potentials which are less exploited. The town of Yaounde equally experiences for a period of time, a proliferation in the number of tourism agencies of all categories but yet, all of these do not contribute in boosting the tourism activity in the town of Yaounde. This is a sort of paradox which needs to be understood. To meet our aims, the hypothetico-deductive method was used. We chose a sample of 60 agencies on a total of 98 and collected data using a questionnaire. The principal results obtained were thus: the present situation of the tourism activity in the town of Yaounde is not sufficient to boost the activity. This activity encounters numerous difficulties classified on the economic, institutional social and functional plan. The perception of various stake holders involved in the development of the tourism activity in Yaounde is not to be neglected as a hindrance to the smooth functioning of tourism agencies. All these problems call for the establishment of sustainable strategies and the enforcements of existing ones by the state, agencies themselves and actors of the civil society in other to palliate to the different enumerated problems above. Meanwhile, all our research hypotheses were verified and we could conclude without hesitation that, tourism agencies do not really contribute in boosting the tourism activity in Yaounde.