Tourist attractiveness of UNESCO World Heritage Sites – the case of Senegal

The article discusses connections between the inscription on the UNESCO List and the increase of tourist attractiveness. It provides a brief overview of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa as well as the analysis of four case studies in Senegal: Island of Gorée, the historic town of Saint-Louis, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary and Saloum Delta. The authors seek the answer to following questions. Can the inscription on the UNESCO List be regarded as a tourist value of a site and therefore increase its tourist attractiveness? Is the attractiveness primary (resulting from a unique value of a site) or secondary (related to the prestige of the inscription on the List)? The first part of the article focuses on UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa, particularly in West Africa. Figure 1 shows the number of African sites on the UNESCO List and the number of African signatories to the UNESCO Convention, whereas Table 1 and 2 provide more specific data concerning the UNESCO Sites in West Africa and in Senegal only. The second part of the article presents the analysis of four sites in Senegal mentioned above. It proves that connections between tourist attractiveness and inscription on the UNESCO List are considerably different in each case. The analysis of one of the most opinion-forming and influential travel guides – Lonely Planet also provides interesting insights. It shows that in case of Senegal the inscription on the UNESCO List does not always cause the increase of tourist attractiveness of a site. Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary, Saloum Delta and historic town of Saint-Louis are the examples of the UNESCO sites that do not stimulate significant tourist flows. Saloum Delta attracts tourists due to its natural rather than cultural values (indicated by the UNESCO). Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary encounters many difficulties both economic and natural and as a result was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger (in 1984 and than again in 2000). Furthermore, its infrastructure is damaged and tourist flows are insignificant. Historic town of Saint-Louis could become a dominant tourist attraction in Senegal, however decades of ineffective policies led to a situation in which the potential of the site is not fully used. Island of Gorée is an example of well managed and frequently visited tourist attraction. However, there are many controversies concerning its actual, historical significance in the Atlantic Slave Trade that undermine its inscription on the UNESCO List. Not only do the authors highlight touristic potential of Senegal but also indicate many challenges in front of both national authorities and the UNESCO representatives