Unconventional tourism mobilities: insights from an African business city

Abstract

Recently, it has been urged that tourism scholars should accord greater research attention to the phenomenon of ‘unconventional tourism mobilities’. In the urban Global South where informality is the dominant feature and mode of urbanization, the need is most apparent. This exploratory study opens a window on the neglected mobilities of informal domestic business travellers to one African business city. Across much of urban sub-Saharan Africa, where informality is the norm, the activities and mobilities of these unconventional tourists are the predominant form of business travel. Using semi-structured interviews conducted with 400 informal business tourists in Harare, Zimbabwe, findings are analysed concerning unconventional tourism mobilities in an African business city. Issues under scrutiny are inter alia, the characteristics of participants in this ‘unconventional form of tourism’, ...