E-tourism in developing and underdeveloped countries: Case of Cameroon

Abstract

Tourism is a fragmented yet most popular sector worldwide. The involvement of ICT and social media in a tourism sector is now very popular in developed countries, meanwhile developing countries are still struggling on the implementation of the e-tourism in their respectively countries. The aim of this study is to provide an understanding of the related concepts and research foundation on E-tourism, and make an overview of E-tourism in several developing countries, then compare Cameroon’s E-tourism industry performances with China’s industry follow by the investigation of the major determinants of E-tourism adoption in Cameroon and recommendations for better E-tourism development in developing and underdeveloped countries like Cameroon. Differences between China and Cameroon are: cultural difference and environment differences. Opportunities between China and Cameroon are: creation of job opportunities and development of infrastructures that would benefit the tourism industry under the belt and road initiative. It is found that China’s presence in Africa is very important ,also China has shown a growing interest in open up new markets and investments opportunities and accessing the energy resources of Africa in return it has offers credits opportunities, development assistance as well as strategic partnerships with African governments and they are equally interested in collaborating with Cameroon as they look for new businesses opportunities and ways to boost regime stability specially by developing the tourism industry.