Domestic Tourism In Imo State

ABSTRACT

 This study examined the impact of tourism and development in Imo State Nigeria, using Imo state as a case study. 300 respondents were purposively selected for the study. A validated 10-item self-developed questionnaire tagged “STDETRCS” (Tourism Development and Transformation in Imo State Scale) with reliability of 0.91 was used for data collection. Two research questions were formulated and data were analyzed using weighted mean rating. Results showed that the most outstanding way by which sustainable tourism development can improve the livelihood of the people in rural communities is seeing tourism as one of the most important industries that support the rural economy in terms of poverty alleviation, job creation and income generation as the weighted mean scores (3.0, 3.0 and 3.1) are greater than criterion and grand means (2.5 and 2.9) respectively. Therefore, the study recommends that there should be improvement in the quality and efficiency of the basic tourism-related infrastructures and services such as hotels, roads, shopping malls, public amenities, transportation systems and communication to provide world class services to visitors and tourists.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background to the Study

Tourism has become a phenomenon in both developed and developing economies across the globe, owing partly to bizarre of income generation, employment creation and poverty elimination potentials; and exploring development variables associated with the intangible products (Andriotis et al., 2008; Meng et al., 2008).Tourism as a displacement activity, involves being away from home on a temporary short-term visit to and stay at places of interest outside one’s domicile and work. United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) however put a time limit of within a year of stay outside the environment other than your home either for business, leisure or other purposes to the definition of tourism. But strictly speaking, tourism encompasses the industry that package, facilitate, promote and delivered such travel and care for those on the move as well as the impact the visitors and host communities have on each other before, during and after the experience.

Tourism has no doubt wage enormous economic impact on all sphere of the society to become one of the fattest growing industries globally (Aliyu, Abdul Kadir, & Aliyu, 2013). The strength of tourism performance is obvious in poverty reduction, employment generation and income redistribution effect on rural communities (Kurian, Varadharajan, & Rajasekar, 2010). With the revolution in tourism industry, both the government and private entrepreneurs have started to optimize the opportunities of attracting tourists to their countries. In other to explore these numerous potentials that are inherent in tourism industry, many countries have started to design their regions, cities and states in a manner that will attract tourist and tourist investors (Gil & Ritchie, 2008). The development of tourism as an alternative revenue sources is the new strategy in most countries because of its multiplier effect on other sectors of the economy, creating large volume of job for both skilled and unskilled labor (Ayeni & Eboho, 2012). Basically, the impacts of tourism are felt in a nation socially, environmentally and economically. At the society’s level, the benefits cut across peasants, artisans and even professionals irrespective of gender, race or age bracket. Environmentally, tourism has the potentials to conserve the natural environment, preserve antiquities, historical monuments and traditional behaviors such as culture, food, language, heritage, arts and crafts. And, economically, tourism creates wealth capable of stimulating both domestic and foreign earnings of any nation from direct activities or associated businesses (NTDMP, 2006).

According to Olapade (2012) not all destinations are fascinating; however, most are able to attract visits due to „genuine stories, infrastructure, events and beautifications the custodians invented and invested‟ and indirectly creates an enabling environment that attracts local and foreign investors, which in the long run are able to create avenue for employment, boost international patronage as well as generate huge revenue. In spite of the various tourism resources available in Nigeria, there is still the lack of infrastructure and investments in the tourism sector and Nigeria so far has recorded little or no revenue from tourism. Furthermore, many of the destinations lack the ambience found in developed tourist destinations (Ayeni, 2010). Furthermore, the main stay of the Nigerian economy as noted by Akpan (2012) has been the oil and gas sector. However, it has been observed that transforming the economy through tourism has several benefits and Nigeria has so much to gain from developing the tourism sector as asserted by Ayeni and Ebohon (2012).

The tourism industry is an amalgamation of various sectors offering travel related services. The uniqueness of the industry in providing numerous services has made it a multifaceted activity which touches many areas of human life. In other words, the tourism industry involves the business of providing tours and services for persons travelling locally and abroad. The provision of these services by different industries sets tourism as a global industry with the highest employer of labour. In view of this, tourism acts as one of the most viable economic industries generating millions of dollars annually which contributes to the growth of numerous economies around the globe. In 2013, tourism generated large numbers of international arrivals which amounted to 1087 million with prospects of international arrivals rising to 1.8 billion by the year 2030 (Kester, 2014). Travel accrues numerous benefits to any destination, one of which is the creation of critical employment opportunities for millions of people. Knowing the benefits of developing the tourism sector, the Nigerian government has since the era of democracy in 1999 not relented in the pursuit of developing its tourism potential so as to diversify its oil monopoly economy. While in response to the present global economic state described as recession or meltdown, the government has given increasing attention to tourism within their overall strategy for economic growth (Leslie, 1995). Hence, with an abundance of natural and cultural attractions, tourists should select Nigeria as one of their destinations of choice.

1.2     Statement of Problem

Despite the immense benefit of the industry to Nigeria’s economy it can easily deteriorate at the slightest hint of social unrest. To a great extent, the political atmosphere of a nation does restrict the influx and movement of tourism. This is as a result of the industry’s dependence on travel traffic. As Telfer and Sharpley (2008) observed, not only is tourism highly susceptible to external forces and events, such as political upheaval, natural disasters, health scares, but it is also sensitive to religious induced crisis which most times impede the safety and security of tourists. The concepts of safety and security are amongst the priority factors that influence tourist choice of destination and are thus paramount conditions for tourism development in any country or region. To amass the full benefits of tourism requires peace and stability.

However, the incessant induced crisis in Nigeria has threatened the safety and security of tourists. Nigeria is not immune but vulnerable to religious instigated crises which is a global menace hindering the growth of the industry since the incident of September 11, 2001 in the USA. Upon this premise of religion posing a challenge to tourism, it is the objective of this research to explore the various practices in Nigeria that threaten the regional development of tourism and also to proffer how well activities could be exploited in promoting tourism in the country.

1.3     Objective of the Study

The general aim of this study is to examine the impact of domestic tourism in Imo state, Nigeria.

The specific objectives include;

1. Find out how sustainable tourism development can improve the livelihood of the people in Imo State Nigeria.
2. Investigate the extent to which revenue generated by tourism can be used to finance infrastructure development and support local enterprises in Imo State Nigeria.

1.4     Research Questions

For the purpose of this study, answers will be provided to the following research questions.

1. How can sustainable tourism development improve the livelihood of the people in Imo State Nigeria?
2. To what extent is revenue generated by tourism used to finance infrastructure development and support local enterprises in Imo State Nigeria?

1.5     Significance of the Study

It is believed that the findings of this research work should provide detailed information on the how to manage tourist centers for a sustainable development and long term survival. It is also expected that the study will benefit the hospitality industries and management.

Through this research, an initiative to promote tourism competitiveness among the states of Nigeria is developed. Such initiative is achieved through a categorization and analysis of resources and actions taken by each Nigerian state that contribute towards tourism competitiveness.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this topic and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other work or study.

Pages:  31

Category: Seminar

Format:  Word & PDF               

Chapters: 1-5                                          

Source: Imsuinfo                                     

Material contains Table of Content, Abstract and References.