The Socio Political Crises and Implication on the Tourism Sector in the North West Region of Cameroon: Case of Mezam Division

The socio political crises has negatively affected tourism in Mezam Division. The objective of this study is to examine the degree to which the socio political crises in Mezam has affected the tourism sector and the strategies that can be put forth to revamp the sector. Tourism which today has become a major engine of nation building in many parts of the world has not had its place in Mezam Division due to instability and insecurity as a result of the on-going socio-political crises plaguing this region. Primary data were sourced from field surveys through the use of questionnaire and interviews. Using the snow ball sampling technique a convenient number of 50 copies of questionnaire were administered to the five sub-divisions of Mezam that are dominated with tourism activities, (Bafut, Bali, Bamenda II, III, and Santa Subdivisions). Based on fieldwork the first results reveals that, the volume of tourists have greatly dropped since the socio political crises commenced. From 2016 – 2025, the volume of tourists into Mezam has drastically dropped. 66% indicated that few tourists (less than 1000 visitors) are received annually, 28% claim an insignificant number of (lesser that 100) tourists patronize this sector annually. Meanwhile, 6% indicated that many (more than 1000tourists) patronize this sector annually. Secondly, the state of tourist attractions have been negatively affected with a majority of 58% respondents indicating that, many tourist attractions have been abandoned, 32% have partially been abandoned and 10% have not been abandoned. Therefore leading to a redundancy in the sector, this has caused some actors to divert into other economic activities such as agriculture (28%), petite trade (24%), other tourism activities (22%) and gastronomy (12%). The 22% of those that left other tourism activities have diverted into the production of tourists attractions like beads and embroidery. Other tourism operators in the embroidery and beads productions activity have forcefully migrated to other towns like Douala, Yaounde and Bafoussam. Therefore, it is recommend that there should be an urgent call for effective dialogue amongst government officials and leaders of this armed groups so that peace can be restored. Key actors in the tourism sector should develop strategies that will revamp the tourism sector.