The Effect of Political Instability on Tourism – A Case Study of Limbe Wildlife Centre, South West Region-Cameroon

In recent years tourism has become one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy and it is widely  recognised for its contribution to regional and national economic development. The concept of political  instability or turmoil and war seems unrelated to tourism however according to the world travel and tourism  council (WTTC) report, tourism is the leading foreign exchange earner and it represents one in every seven  jobs. There are a number of factors that can have an influence on peoples travel decisions including  political stability, terrorism, civil/world war and natural disasters, this makes Tourist’s sensitive towards  events of violence in holiday’s destinations. The political situation of a country is recognised as an  important factor that influences tourism development. A stable political condition is a significant  requirement that enables tourists to visit and good media report too will help to attract more tourists to a  destination as tourists have many sources through which they get information about a destination. Apart  from the positive impact that comes along with tourist’s movement, a huge variety of problems caused by  mass tourism has become increasingly evident over recent years. Ahead of all negative effect there is  environmental, social and cultural degradation followed by unequal distribution of financial benefits which  all have raised public awareness. Painting a good image about the destination or positive media report will  go a long way to bring back tourists to visit this destination.

 Keywords: Political instability, instability, politics, destination, destination image, tourism.