Luxury tourism in Africa ‘causing more harm than good’, new research warns

A general view shows suites at the Ritz-Carlton Masai Mara Safari Camp hotel in the Maasai Mara game reserve, along the Kenya-Tanzania border in Narok county, Kenya August 7, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo

All-inclusive resorts cut off from local life

Many African governments target luxury tourism development, describing it as "high-value, low-impact," but the research found that this is not always the case.

All-inclusive resorts are often isolated from local communities, hire few local workers, and prevent tourists from spending in nearby areas by providing everything on-site.

Foreign ownership and inequality

The most profitable eco-lodges were foreign-owned, with much of tourist spending flowing to overseas travel agencies, imported food, or repatriated profits.

Luxury tourism can deepen inequality, concentrating profits among foreign operators or a small local elite, while wages for most tourism jobs remain low.

Local tensions rise

The issue is fueling tensions on the ground. Last week, a local activist filed a lawsuit to block the opening of a new Ritz-Carlton luxury safari lodge in Kenya's Maasai Mara reserve.

In Kenya, locals have raised concerns about land grabs by wealthy investors. In Tanzania, protests against the eviction of tens of thousands of Maasai to make way for hunting lodges have led to deadly clashes with police.