In the fall of 2015, I began working with Dr. Abena Aidoo,
and our project is centered on "Tourism in Africa”. We are still in the
preliminary stages of the research and our goal will be to compare the
continent’s tourist arrivals and tourism receipts now from previous years. We
are also analyzing the effects technology and social media have had on the
various sectors. We meet on a weekly basis. I am assigned to read articles on
related topics and write annotated bibliographies. I work to compile several
lists of the tourism websites of these different African countries; dividing
them into two sectors: public and private; the amount of information each
website has, and how that has and will influence tourist activities in that
particular country.
The discovery this week has not been
greatly different from the previous weeks. There is always the difficulty of
finding authentic research papers on tourism in Africa. The data available is
scanty. I found a website (jovago.com) that had listings of hotels for 29
African countries and Pakistan. It allows tourists to reserve rooms when
travelling to these countries as well as request other available services.
Though a biology major, I hope to learn
about different fields of study. As I work on these websites, I am introduced
to a whole new perspective of traditions which will become paramount in my
career considering the fact that I would love to work in such countries after obtaining
my medical degree. Having an extensive knowledge on the essence of various
cultures will play no mean a role in my interactions with people in such
communities.
