Against the wind: the role of Belgian colonial tourism marketing in resisting pressure to decolonise from Africa

Abstract

In 1945, the Belgian government sought to recover its tarnished reputation as a defeated European colonial power. It invested heavily in the Belgian Congo and its other colonial wards and in so doing set about conveying to international audiences its African accomplishments with a view to securing its status as a responsible nation of empire. The government propaganda machinery became sharper in focus and more integrated in the post-war years. International criticism of colonialism, notably American, became ever more acute while Belgian policy became out of step with the trend towards decolonisation in British and French colonial Africa. In 1956, as Britain was debating and passing legislation to allow Ghana's independence, Belgium resisted any open discussion about decolonisation. Instead it ramped up its pro-colonial tourist promotion activities, and integrated its tourism office within the colonial propaganda department. Despite its tourism marketing endeavour, visiting the Belgian Congo remained very difficult in line with a long-standing philosophy of isolating the African colony and its people. As such, until the eve of the Belgian Congo's hastily delivered independence in 1960, colonial tourism marketing should be viewed primarily as a propaganda exercise in justifying Belgian presence in Africa.