ABSTRACT
The study focused on the influence of government policies on the development of sustainable tourism destination in Abia State. The objectives of the study are; To identify the Abia State government tourism development policies, to ascertain the components of sustainability of the identified tourism development policies in Abia State, to examine the application of the identified government policies on sustainable tourism development in Abia state, to identify the factors that affect sustainable tourism development in relation to government policy and to identify the way forward. To achieve the objective of the study, survey research design was adopted. The researcher adopted primary data in getting the required information through the use of structured questionnaire. The population of the study is 95 managers and staff of the selected tourism destination. The findings revealed that (i) Low taxation, security, public interest protection, free entry and free exit were the major Abia state government tourism development policies. (ii) Economic stability and environmental compatibility were the major components of sustainability of the identified tourism development policies in Abia State. (iii) Public interest protection, free entry and free exit and road accessibility were the major identified government policies that enhance sustainable tourism development in Abia state. (iv) Infrastructural development, economic issues, government restriction and capital base were the major factors that affect sustainable tourism development in relation to government policy in Abia state. (v) Adequate infrastructure, free entry and free exit, security and government involvement were the major way forward to the factors affecting tourism development in relation to government policy in Abia state. The study recommend that (i) The government should practice low taxation, security, public interest protection, free entry and free exit as the major tourism development policies in Abia state. (ii) Economic stability and environmental compatibility should be practiced by Abia state government as the major components to enhance the sustainability of the identified tourism development policies in Abia state. (iii) Abia state government should improve on the major identified government policies such as public interest protection, free entry and free exit and road accessibility in order to enhance sustainable tourism development in the state. (iv) Infrastructural development, economic issues, government restriction and capital base should be looked into and effected by Abia state government as the major factors that affect sustainable tourism development in relation to government policy in Abia state. (v) Abia state government should consider and implement adequate infrastructure, free entry and free exit, security and government involvement as the way forward to factors affecting tourism development in relation to government policy in Abia state.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Cover page i
Title Page ii
Approval Page iii
Certification iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgement vi
Table of Contents viii
List of tables ix
List of figures x
Abstract xi
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 5
1.3 Objectives of the Study 7
1.4
Research Questions 7
1.5
Significance of the Study 8
1.6
Scope of the Study 9
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual Framework 10
2.1.1 Tourism 10
2.1.2
Tourism Industry 12
2.1.3
Sustainability 12
2.1.4
Sustainable
Development 15
2.1.5
Sustainable Tourism Attraction 16
2.1.6
The Nature of Government Involvement In tourism 20
2.1.7 A
Strategic policy approach 21
2.1.8 Government impact on tourism development 23
2.1.9 Sustainable Tourism Policy and Planning
in Nigeria 26
2.1.10
Nigerian Business Environment and Its Support 36
2.1.11
The effects of Government Policy on performance of business organizations 39
2.1.12
Factors Affecting sustainable tourism development in Nigeria 41
2.2 Theoretical Framework
47
2.2.1
Practical Theories 47
2.2.2 Dependency theory 48
2.3 Empirical Review 49
2.4 Summary of Related Literature 52
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 54
3.2 Area of the Study 54
3.3 Population for the Study 55
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique 55
3.4.2 Sampling Technique 55
3.5 Instrument for Data Collection 56
3.6 Validation of the Instrument 56
3.7 Reliability of the Instrument 56
3.8 Method of Data Collection 56
3.8 Data Analysis Techniques 57
CHAPTER
4
DATA
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
4.1 Data analysis and Interpretation 58
4.3 Major Findings 64
4.4 Discussion on findings 64
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
5.1
Summary 67
5.1.1 Restatement of
the Problem 68
5.2 Conclusion 70
5.3 Recommendations 71
5.4
Contribution to knowledge 71
5.5 Suggestion for Further Studies 72
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
LIST OF
TABLES
Table 4.1: Mean responses on the Abia State
government tourism development policies 58
Table 4.2: Mean responses on the components of
sustainability of the identified
tourism development policies
in Abia State 59
Table 4.6: Mean responses on the application of
the identified government policies on
sustainable tourism
development in Abia state? 60
Table 4.7: Mean responses on the factors that
affect sustainable tourism development
in relation to government
policy 62
Table 4.8: Mean responses on the way forward 63.
LIST OF
FIGURE
Figure 3: Sustainability components 14
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study
Tourism is the activities of persons traveling
to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one
consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes (Iyiola, 2014). The term tourism is derived from “tour”
meaning; “a journey at which one returns to the starting point: a circular trip
usually for business, pleasure or education during which various places are
visited and for which an itinerary is usually planned”( Tunde, 2012). Today,
the Nigeria tourism industry has recorded significant growth due to the Federal
government’s plan of promoting tourism (Baker, 2012). Consequently, many
travelers from other parts of the world now visit Nigeria for tourism purposes.
The hospitality industry remains one
of the largest, if not the largest industry that cuts across businesses such as
hotels, restaurants, event planning and management etc. and anchored on service
delivery (Omobude and Igbudu, 2012). The
hospitality establishment is a broad category of fields within the service
industry that includes hotels, food and drink services, event planning, theme
parks, transportation, cruise line, traveling and additional fields within the
tourism industry (Smith, 2017).Sustainable development was identified as
“development which meets the needs of the current generations without
compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” (Ajagbe, 2013). The concept makes it clear that environment
should not be destroyed with policy designed for improvement in economic and
social well-being of the people (UNECE 2015). Therefore, sustainability
encompasses three components namely; economic sustainability, socio-cultural
sustainability and environmental sustainability (Richards and Hall, 2010).
The
notion of sustainable development has expanded to cover all forms of
development and economic activities including tourism. The interpretation of
the concept of sustainable development in tourism remains vague and a number of
different approaches have been proposed in an effort to define what constitutes
sustainable development in tourism and what not. Coccossis (1996 as cited in
Cheng, 2011) recognizes four different interpretations of sustainable tourism.
These four perspectives are the “economic
sustainability of tourism”, the “ecologically
sustainable tourism”, “sustainable
tourism development” where although the need for environmental quality is
apparent; the focus is on the long-term viability of the industry- and “tourism as a part of a strategy for
sustainable development”.
Sustainable tourism development
attempts to find a balance between these impacts to create an improved quality
of life for the host community and the destination. The World Commission on
Economic Development (WCED) (2017) describes sustainable development as
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. This further describes
some of the principles that have been proposed to ensure that the tourism industry
of the future is characterized by rewarding and sustainable travel experiences
(WCED, 2007).
A
government is a body of people that work to effectively and successfully guide
a unit or community. They use customs, laws, and institutions to exercise political,
executive, and sovereign power with the intent of managing a state of wellbeing
that benefits all aspects of the community or unit (Ishikawa
and Fukushige, 2007).
Governments can be classified into types. There are democracies, republics,
monarchies, dictatorships, and aristocracies to name just a few (Oni and
daniya, 2012).
A
policy is a principle or course of action proposed or implemented by a
governing body. Governing bodies are groups of people that act in unison to
guide and support a community, unit, business, institution, etc. (Dovers,
2016). Policies
can take many forms depending on whether you are looking at an institution,
organization, government, or other body. Overall, policies do share some common
features (Ajagbe, 2013): Policies are authoritative declarations promoted by a
person or body given the power to do so, Policies shape principles and laws and
Policies state and influence ways to perform actions and sometimes by whom.
Under
the best circumstances, policies are exceptional resources for making the lives
of everyone in the community better.
A
government policy is a rule or principle that hopefully better guides
decisions, resulting in positive outcomes that enhance the community or unit.
Government policies contain the reasons things are to be done in a certain way
and why. This leads to the development of procedures and protocols to see that
policies are conducted in an appropriate manner. Procedures and protocols
dictate the “how,” “where,” and “when” of how policies will be executed. Government
policy describes a course of action, creating a starting point for change. They
can influence how much tax the community pays, immigration status and laws,
pensions, parking fines, and even where you go to school. While policies are driven
to be non-discriminatory, they can affect specific groups of individuals.
Policies are not laws, but they can lead to laws (Hall, 2014).
In the case of
government support policies, it is assumed that since government is in the lead
for tourism development, it should provide the much needed resources within its
capability. Such resources include provision of environment conducive to business
that will highly promote tourism in the country. Government policy in this
context is any course of action which aims at regulating and improving the
conditions of tourism in terms of supportive, implementation and funding
policies by the government. Based on this definition, government policy as it
relates to tourism practice is targeted at encouraging tourism destinations by
making a favorable environment for the tourist. This, it does through enactment
of guidelines that will regulate tourism activity generally for the reason that
tourism contributes to the growth of the economy.
The concept of sustainable tourism
implies the need to depart from the status
quo, which also means a fundamental re-thinking of current policy
priorities and directions. To incorporate the concept into the tourism system,
development must combine and balance ecological, economic and social aspects.
Despite being manifested as a leading motif for future tourism development in
many tourism policies around the world, the implementation of sustainable
tourism appears, however, to be a long and difficult process (Gangi and Timan,
2013). Since there is still a deficiency in its transformation into positive
political action, it can be argued that the traditional machinery of government
lacks capacity and motivation to respond adequately to the challenges of the
complex and dynamic sustainability agenda. A lack of a clear political
direction and an inability to achieve sustainability often characterize current
deficiencies in sustainable tourism development (Al-muaraki and Busler, 2013).
In contrast, the conceptualisation of sustainable development demands clearly
set-out, unambiguous, long-term and integrative aims and objectives. These
together constitute the strategic policy approaches that are the crucial
prerequisites to assist in the implementation of the sustainability agenda into
the tourism system (Cullen, Caltiz and Chadler, 2014).
One of the key
recommendations was for government to make available the enabling environment
for private sector led investment through the delivery of suitable
infrastructural amenities. Sriram and Mersha (2010), discussed the factors that
contribute to success of tourism destinations in Africa and Nigeria in
particular. They reported that effective government policy is very crucial in
encouraging successful tourism destination. It is on this ground that this
study intends to examine the role of government policies in the development of
sustainable tourism destination in Abia State.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
Currently, there
are many issues confronting the Nigerian economy and these include abject
poverty and unemployment. According to Onwukwe and Ifeanacho (2011), these
issues are partly caused by the country’s failure to ensure proper
implementation of sustainable development programmes. Obviously, the lack of
recognition for such sustainable development programmes, especially those that
are capable of enhancing sustainable tourism development, is responsible for
the current economic state of our country. The situation is further compounded
by the government’s attitude of indifference and apathy, which contributes
directly to the current dire situation of the country’s economy (Onwukwe, 2012).
According to Onwukwe (2012), the progressive decline in the average Nigerian’s
per-capita income has forced more than 50% of the country’s population to find
themselves below poverty line. It is sad to note that despite the 100% increase
in Global wealth; almost 50% of the global population still lives on $2 per day
(Onwukwe and Ifeanacho, 2011). Of course, Nigeria like most other developing
countries falls under this category. Consequently, Nigeria failed to achieve
the first target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which is to ensure
a 50% reduction of poverty by 2015.
Government of most
countries especially developing countries have in the past invested so much
efforts and resources in establishing policies intended to uplift tourism destination.
Cases in point are in China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Nigeria (InfoDev,
2010).
In Nigeria,
different administrations at various times have geared their efforts towards
developing its tourism destination. Several developmental and financial
assistance instruments were employed (Oni and Daniya, 2012). However, such
government ingenuities were terribly unsuccessful as a result of overbearing
bureaucratic procedures, corruption, insufficient and ineffectual
infrastructural amenities (Lee and Osteryoung, 2014). Oni and Daniya (2012),mentioned
inconsistent government policies as one of the challenges faced by tourism
destination in Nigeria. Oni and Daniya (2012), argument is based on the fact
that before tourism destination succeed in Nigeria, they must have political
clout as well as massive resources to be able to influence government laws.
Thus as tourism destination, those two (political clout and huge financial
resources) are lacking (Oni and Daniya, 2012). Lee and Osteryoung (2014) reported
that the capability of business owner to influence government policy is related
to the success of tourism activities. Ihugba, Odii and Njoku (2012) argued that
even though tourism contributes to the growth of the economy, government is not
doing enough to encourage entrepreneurs through policies. This is because most
government policies are not favourable to entrepreneurs. This could be in the
area of tax payment, import restriction among others.
In addition to the
high incidents of corruption, the various governmental policies have not been
particularly effective in bringing out the best in terms of development
(Ihugba, Odii and Njoku, 2012). Most of the government policies are not
channeled into the development of tourism. This is further compounded by socio-political
instability, and economic instability, all of which have had considerable
negative influences on the primary institutions that are responsible for policy
monitoring and implementation. Unfortunately, such failures have also lead to
low productivity as well as distortion of the macroeconomic structure, and are
therefore a major hindrance to the development of tourism destinations. It is
against this backdrop that this study intends to examine the role of government
policies in the development of sustainable tourism destination in Abia State.
1.3
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study is to
examine the role of government policies in the development of sustainable
tourism destination in Abia State. However, the specific objectives of the
study are:
(i)
To identify the Abia State government tourism development
policies.
(ii)
To ascertain the components of sustainability of the
identified tourism development policies in Abia State.
(iii)
To examine the application of the identified government
policies on sustainable tourism development in Abia state.
(iv)
To identify the factors that affect sustainable tourism
development in relation to government policy.
(v)
To identify the way forward.
1.4 Research Questions
The
following research questions will guide the study
(i)
What are the Abia State government tourism development
policies?
(ii)
What are the components of sustainability of the identified
tourism development policies in Abia State?
(iii)
What is the application of the identified government policies
on sustainable tourism development in Abia state?
(iv)
What are the factors that affect sustainable tourism
development in relation to government policy?
(v)
What is the way forward?
1.5 Significance of the
Study
Significance
of the study deals with those that will benefit from this research work and how
they will benefit. However, this study will be quite significant to the
following group of people; tourist centers, government, students and
researchers.
Tourist centers; the findings and
recommendations of this work will go a long way in educating managers of
tourist centers on the role of government policies in the development of sustainable
tourism destination. Having access to this work through internet publication or
library will enable tourist centers to identify the major government policies
that affect sustainable tourism development. The findings of this study will
also enable tourist centers to know the various components of sustainable
tourism development that can be affected by government policy. Also, the
information contained in this work will enlighten tourist centers on the factors
that affect sustainable tourism development in relation to government policy.
Government; the findings of this study
will enable government to know their contribution to sustainable tourism
development by having access to this work and paying attention to those listed
governmental policies that negatively affect sustainable tourism development.
The sustainable development of every business organizations depends on
government policy, hence, the findings of this work would help government to
set policies that embodysustainable tourism development. Hence,
the study will also enlighten government on the factors that affect sustainable
tourism development in relation to government policy
This research when published, will also be
significant to the students of this noble institution and other institutions in
the field of tourism and hospitality management as it would enable them to know
the role of government policies in the development of sustainable tourism destination
in Abia State.
Finally, the publication of this will help
in serving as a reference material to researchers who would wish to research on
a similar topic in future.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The study focused on the role of
government policies in the development of sustainable tourism destination in
Abia State. The geographical scope is Abia State while the unit scope is
managers and staff of some Tourism destinations in Abia State which includes
Ojukwu Bunker and National war Museum Umuahia.
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