Stepping into colonial footsteps – selling wilderness in the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

A critical analysis of trophy hunting tourism in the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania, reveals that advertising by six major agencies perpetuates colonial imaginaries. These narratives depict Africa as uninhabited wilderness, reinforcing racialized, gendered, and class-based hierarchies while erasing local environmental history and community realities. The study finds that such representations sustain colonial power dynamics, framing African landscapes as wild nature in need of Western intervention and evoking fantasies of a colonial lifestyle among tourists. This research underscores the urgent need to deconstruct these narratives in wildlife tourism to foster more equitable, post/decolonial perspectives.

von Kocemba, M., Lenz, R., & Neuburger, M. (2026). Stepping into colonial footsteps – selling wilderness in the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania. Current Issues in Tourism, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2026.2720223