ABSTRACT
This work presents the strategies for stakeholder’s involvement in achieving sustainable tourism development of Agulu Lake in Anambra State, Nigeria. Moreover, some stakeholders are more important than others in determining the successful sustainable tourism development. A qualitative research design was used for this study. The population of the study is made up all residents in Agulu lake in Anambra State while a sample size of 153 respondent was used for the study. Primary data was used for the study. Primary data were collected through the use of well-structured questionnaire administered to sampled respondents. Descriptive statistics was used in analysing the data obtained. The findings of this study reveals that the key stakeholders to Agulu Lake are the government, the host community, the tourists and Agulu lake management who are responsible for implementing polices, and strategies for sustainable tourism development and for developing Agulu Lake into a tourism destination. The study therefore recommends that the management of cultural attraction should be left at the hands of the people especially with regards to festivals, shrines and groves because most of them are handed down from generation to generation and it is only the people that know how best to manage them while government can provide technical and financial assistance when the need arises.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of content vi
List of tables ix
Abstract x
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the Study 1
1.2 Statement of Problem 3
1.3 Objective
of the Study 5
1.4 Research Questions 5
1.5 Significance of the Study 6
1.6 Scope
of the Study 7
CHAPTER
TWO
LITERATURE
REVIEW
2.1
Conceptual Framework 8
2.1.1
Concept and Definition of Tourism 8
2.1.2 Categories of Tourism 10
2.1.3 Tourism Services 11
2.1.4 The Concept of Sustainable Tourism 13
2.1.5 Principles of Sustainable Tourism 15
2.1.6 Sustainable Tourism Development 16
2.1.7 Stakeholders and Sustainable Tourism Development 18
2.1.8
Brief Description of Agulu Lake 20
2.1.9
The Role of Stakeholders in Sustainable Tourism Development 21
2.1.9.1
Roles of Host Community to Sustainable Tourism Development 24
2.1.9.2
Role of Government to Sustainable Tourism Development 25
2.1.9.3
Roles of Tourists to Sustainable Tourism Development 26
2.1.9.4
Roles of management to Sustainable Tourism Development 28
2.1.10 Strategic Objectives for Stakeholders
Involvement In Sustainable Development 29
2.2
Theoretical Framework 29
2.2.1
Stakeholder’s theorem 29
2.3
Empirical Review 32
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS
AND METHODS
3.1 Introduction 35
3.2 Research
Design 35
3.3 Area of the
Study 35
3.4 Population of
the Study 36
3.5 Sample size
and Sampling Techniques 36
3.6 Instrument for
Data Collection 37
3.6.1
Data Sources 37
3.7 Validation of
the Instrument 38
3.8 Reliability of
Instrument 38
3.9 Data CollectionTechniques
39
3.10 Data Analysis
Technique 39
CHAPTER
FOUR
DATA
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Identification
of Key Stakeholders 38
4.2 Roles of
Stakeholders of Agulu Lake tourism destination 38
4.3 Benefits
Derived by the Host Community 42
4.4
Problems Militating the Full Development of Agulu Lake into Tourism Destination 43
4.5 Strategies for
stakeholders’ involvement in the development of Agulu Lake into tourism destination in Anambra State 46
4.6 Discussion of
Findings 47
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary of Findings 50
5.2 Conclusion 51
5.3 Recommendation 51
REFERENCES 53
APPENDIX 57
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 key
stakeholders of Agulu Lake tourism destination 38
Table
4.2.1 Roles of Stakeholders of Agulu Lake tourism destination 39
Table 4.3 Benefits
Derived by the Host Community 42
Table
4.4: problems militating the full development of Agulu Lake 43
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Tourism is the temporary movement to destinations outside the
normal home and workplace, the activities undertaken during the stay and the
facilities created to cater for the needs of tourists (Mathieson and Wall, 1982
in Cooper et al, 1993). It can also be defined as the act or practice of
travelling temporarily out of one’s’ place of abode; it is a social phenomenon
(Omeje, 2006).
Tourism has to take place in an area,
which is usually referred to as destination. It is pertinent to say that once a
tourist leaves his/her society, town or community to a new destination he
travels with idiosyncrasies of his/her community and if not informed might
exhibit such character in his/her destination which might not be acceptable to
the new communities way of life. Tourism destination be it cultural, historical
or ecotourism exists in a community. Tourism attractions do not exist in
isolation of human community, therefore, communities are directly affected as a
result of tourists‟ traffic, because tourist in-flow to any destination will
definitely affect or change a community political, socio-cultural, economic and
ecosystem.
Tourism is considered a valuable
economic development opportunity for many countries, yet the expansion of
tourism worldwide has also led to emerging concern about its negative impacts
on host environments (Berrittella, Bigano, Roson, & Tol, 2006; Choi &
Sirakaya, 2006). As a result, there is increasing agreement on the need to
promote sustainable tourism development with the aim of minimizing
environmental and socio-cultural impacts, while commensurately maximizing
economic benefits for tourist destinations (Cole, 2006; Wight, 2003).
Since
the 1990s, sustainable tourism development has gained attention and been
adopted as a policy and planning approach by many governments around the world
(Pigram & Wahab, 1997). Nigeria included have declared their interest in
and commitment to sustainable tourism development principles, motivated partly
by the fact that tourism itself is often impeded by negative side effects which
reduce the quality of life of local residents, along with the satisfaction
levels of tourists (Mowforth & Munt, 2003). However, while the concept of
sustainable tourism development is widely considered integral to successful
tourism development, there remain a range of problems which mitigate against
positive sustainable tourism development outcomes. These include a lack of
clear understanding of the key stakeholders in implementing sustainable tourism
development and secondly, not all stakeholders have the same level of interest
in sustainable tourism development and may be less active or not active at all.
Moreover, some stakeholders are more important than others in determining the
successful sustainable tourism development (Cooper et al., 2006). For this
reason, the objectives of this study are to identify the key tourism
stakeholders in implementing sustainable tourism development and to provide a
synthesis of the similarity and differences in the characteristics of the
tourism stakeholders found Agulu lake in Anambra State.
Tourism
officials and stakeholders are to take cognizance of the people’s dos and don’ts,
what they expect from tourism and what kind of benefits therein, were demerits
are identified it will be mitigated or reduced with care as long as it does not
supersede the overall benefits of the development.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
There
is a tourism slogan that says that, “tourism is like a fire, it can cook your
meal or destroy it.” Most tourism destinations occur in rural communities and
without proper planning tourism tend to be disastrous.
Anambra
state has a lot of tourism attractions ranging from natural, cultural,
historical, archaeological, and traditional religions features. Some of these
attractions are gazzetted while some are not, moreover tourism establishments,
including the hospitality industry can be seen in every nook and cranny of such
cities as Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka.
Most
of these tourists attractions like Agulu Lake that cuts across Nri community is
located in rural community used by tourists and tourism stakeholders with
little or no input (benefits) from and to the host community.
Sustainable
tourism development is considered an appropriate development concept for many
tourism destinations. What is important to be aware of is that the inclusion
and participation of stakeholders in any activity is very crucial especially in
sustainable tourism development. The idea is to include different perspectives
and to categorize different groups involved in the tourism development process.
For example, taking care of the needs and wants of the tourist in terms of
attractions and facilities (physical developments) is what bring them to the
destination. The communication with the local community is then important since
they will have to host the tourists. Although many professionals (Andereck
& Vogt, 2000; Andriotis, 2005; Ap, 1992; Byrd & Gustke, 2004;
Gunn,1994; Gursoy et al., 2002; Ioannides, 1995; Tosun, 2006; Yuksel et al.,
1999) are aware of the importance of the inclusion of stakeholder in the
tourism development process, the inclusion of stakeholders has not yet been
completely realized. According to Ioannides, 1995 & Tosun, 2006,
stakeholder involvement is difficult or impossible to accomplish.
In
order for sustainable tourism development to be implemented successfully, there
is a need to identify the key stakeholders in the implementation process. All
these attributes of key stakeholders in sustainable tourism development
especially in rural setting necessitated this research, in order to access
stakeholders’ involvement in achieving sustainable tourism development of Agulu
Lake in Anambra State.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The
main objective of this study is to investigate the strategies for stakeholders’
involvement in achieving sustainable tourism development of Agulu Lake in
Anambra State.
The
Specific objectives are to:
i.
Identify the key stakeholders that are
involved in the development process of Agulu Lake in Anambra State.
ii.
Identify the various roles of the key
stakeholders identified in Agulu Lake tourism destinations.
iii.
Ascertain the benefits that Agulu
community has derived from development of Agulu Lake into tourism destination
in Anambra State.
iv.
Determine the problems militating the full
development of Agulu Lake into tourism destination.
v.
Identify the strategies for stakeholders
involvement in the development of Agulu Lake into tourism destination in Anambra
State
1.4 Research Questions
i.
Who are the key stakeholders that are
involved in the development process of Agulu Lake in Anambra State?
ii.
What are the various roles of the key
stakeholders identified in Agulu lake tourism destinations?
iii.
What are the benefits that Agulu community
has derived from development of Agulu Lake into tourism destination in Anambra
State?
iv.
What are the problems militating the full
development of Agulu lake into tourism destination?
v.
What are the strategies for stakeholders’
involvement in the development of Agulu Lake into tourism destination in Anambra
State?
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study will be of immense importance because:
i.
The study unmask the tourism
potentials in Agulu lake in Anambra State and if properly harnessed will make
the state one of the tourism haven in Nigeria and west Africa at large because
it has all the features to develop beach tourism the state.
ii.
When all these tourism
potentials are harnessed, it will be another huge source of income for the
state government, a means for rural development because Agulu Lake is located
in rural area of the state and potential investors from the private sector will
see the viability of tourism in Anambra state.
iii.
The research will serve as a
revelation for National Tourism Development Corporation and make community
participation very vital in any tourism development project in order to ensure
sustainability.
iv.
Finally, tourism stakeholders
in the state will see the advantages of tourism potentials in their areas, help
in developing them for present and future benefits and avert or manage the
negative consequences of tourism project like: environmental pollution and
degradation, commodification of culture and other social vices.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This
study covers only the stakeholders of Agulu Lake in Anambra State.
al in any tourism development project in order to ensure
sustainability.
iv.
Finally, tourism stakeholders
in the state will see the advantages of tourism potentials in their areas, help
in developing them for present and future benefits and avert or manage the
negative consequences of tourism project like: environmental pollution and
degradation, commodification of culture and other social vices.
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