Tourists’ expectations of their encounter with indigenous communities in the context of indigenous tourism: Western tourists’online reviews of OvaHimba cultural villages in Namibia

Abstract: Indigenous tourism is a debated topic as the lifestyle and culture of indigenous groups are increasingly being promoted as tourist attractions, especially by tourism promotors targeting tourists in more developed countries. Indigenous tourism has become a widely adopted approach used to generate income for indigenous communities, and to the countries in which they are located. However, the commodification and marketing of indigenous people and their culture have raised some questions about the extent this type of tourism is ethically and socially sustainable. The portrayal of indigenous people used in tourism marketing has been argued to reproduce stereotypical images of indigenous people. In the context of indigenous tourism in Namibia, the aim of this thesis is to examine western tourists’ expectations of their encounter with the indigenous group OvaHimba, and what implications these expectations might entail. As tourists from western countries have been found to be particularly interested in experiencing what they perceive as authentic travel experiences, the study furthermore explores what the tourists associate with authenticity in relation to indigenous communities. The main data source in this study is TripAdvisor reviews left by western tourists reviewing their experience with OvaHimba cultural villages in Namibia. The research draws upon a conceptual framework including the concepts of authenticity, the exotic Other and the tourist gaze. Findings in this study indicate that the majority of tourists under review appeared to demonstrate a romanticized and static view of the indigenous people’s culture – not expecting it to change or evolve.