Abstract
Issues of tourist safety and risk are as engrossing as they are weighty when tourism destination image, promotion and marketing are concerned. Consequently, how regions burdened with political instability and civil strife and those located close by but relatively stable deal with negative images become very important issues and challenges because the ramifications can be difficult and expensive to recover from. Being the first of its kind to be conducted in the biodiversity rich but essentially politically volatile Central African sub-region, this chapter considers the findings of a series of in-depth interviews with private and public sector tourism industry stakeholders in Cameroon and from tourists before and after visiting countries in the sub-region. The first half of the chapter examines the literature on political instability and its impact on destination image and tourism in general. It also provides an overview of the geopolitical situation and tourism development in Cameroon and other neighbouring countries. The second half is an analysis of primary data collected during fieldwork. The findings reveal the existence of two contrasting different pre and post-visit images of the sub-region held by tourists. These include the absence of a destination marketing strategy, no strategic tourism planning and management, and limited sub-regional cooperation amongst others. It concludes by proposing some strategic tourism promotion and marketing elements which have to be addressed by destination managers when formulating destination management strategies that would make destinations in Cameroon and the sub-region more appealing to a wider range of potential visitors.