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"Discovering the African Soul". The Dark Ages of Cultural Tourism in French Colonial Africa (1920s-1950s).  
Early forms of tourism developed in French tropical Africa from the 1920s to the 1950s.  Tourism was essentially focussed on nature-related activities (safari, fishing) but touristic interest was also aroused by the discovery of local cultures, thus shaping or reshaping them.  Colonial officers, private investors and travellers themselves initiated the "invention" of an African patrimony, shedding light on special spots of interest (Timbuktu, Dogon cliffs, etc.) and on codified activities (shopping for artefacts in market places, watching "tam-tam" and other ceremonial dances, etc.).  Even if tourists were rare back then, feedback effects on local societies and cultures were induced by tourist activities, which also promoted perennial representations of what is "touristically consistent" in Africa.

Keywords
French colonial Africa, invention of an heritage, representations, tourism