Heaven on Earth? The development of tourism in the Dogon Country and the Hombori Mountains (Mali)

This paper studies the unequal development of two tourist destinations in Mali: Dogon Country, a well-established tourist market area, and the Hombori Mountains, considered as a kind of “heaven on earth” due to their preserved biological biodiversity. Building on Butler’s destination life cycle model (1980), our research suggests Dogon Country benefits from a considerable, long-term advantage in terms of image, which has led to its inclusion within UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The situation is totally different in the Hombori Mountains where current mountain tourists can be considered as the trailblazers for this particular destination.