Opportunities and Challenges for Community Based Ecotourism Development: The Case of Alatish National Park; Northwest Ethiopia
Presenter's country
Ethiopia
Start Date
27-5-2016 11:25 AM
End Date
27-5-2016 12:30 PM
Location
Hall I
Submission type
Presentation
Abstract
Contrary to conventional tourism, ecotourism has widely been promoted as economic diversification and development tool, and an appropriate means for conservation of natural resources for destinations. The aim of this study is to assess opportunities and challenges for community based ecotourism development. Mixed research approach was devised and cross sectional research design was used. Tools of primary data collection were Questionnaires, FGDs, Interviews and Observation Checklists. Secondary data were collected from related articles, researches and documents obtained from offices. Quantitative data was computed using SPSS version 16.0. The findings revealed that opportunities for community based ecotourism development are: key historical and cultural attractions in the park’s vicinity, undifferentiated geological features with diversity of wildlife, the potential to develop cross border tourism, potential benefits of ecotourism for local employment and global increasing demand for ecotourism. Challenges for community based ecotourism development are: global warming and desert expansion, habitat depletion and degradation of natural resources, diseases like malaria, and lack of basic infrastructural development such as road, electricity, telecommunications, accommodation facilities, little stakeholders’ collaboration, promotion and marketing, human and financial resources are in a poor condition to meet the satisfaction of tourists and locals. The main conclusion drawn from the study is, being properly planned and managed, the park has the potentials for ecotourism development as well as cross border tourism since Alatish is trans-national park sharing boundaries’ with Dinder national park of Sudan and hence tourists can get experiences from natural attractions and cultural manifestations of both Ethiopia and Sudan.
Keywords
Community Based Ecotourism, Opportunities, Challenges, Alatish National Park
Opportunities and Challenges for Community Based Ecotourism Development: The Case of Alatish National Park; Northwest Ethiopia
Hall I
Contrary to conventional tourism, ecotourism has widely been promoted as economic diversification and development tool, and an appropriate means for conservation of natural resources for destinations. The aim of this study is to assess opportunities and challenges for community based ecotourism development. Mixed research approach was devised and cross sectional research design was used. Tools of primary data collection were Questionnaires, FGDs, Interviews and Observation Checklists. Secondary data were collected from related articles, researches and documents obtained from offices. Quantitative data was computed using SPSS version 16.0. The findings revealed that opportunities for community based ecotourism development are: key historical and cultural attractions in the park’s vicinity, undifferentiated geological features with diversity of wildlife, the potential to develop cross border tourism, potential benefits of ecotourism for local employment and global increasing demand for ecotourism. Challenges for community based ecotourism development are: global warming and desert expansion, habitat depletion and degradation of natural resources, diseases like malaria, and lack of basic infrastructural development such as road, electricity, telecommunications, accommodation facilities, little stakeholders’ collaboration, promotion and marketing, human and financial resources are in a poor condition to meet the satisfaction of tourists and locals. The main conclusion drawn from the study is, being properly planned and managed, the park has the potentials for ecotourism development as well as cross border tourism since Alatish is trans-national park sharing boundaries’ with Dinder national park of Sudan and hence tourists can get experiences from natural attractions and cultural manifestations of both Ethiopia and Sudan.