ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was toassess the contributions of tourism to community development in Cross River State. Four research questions and three null hypotheses were posed and formulated respectively to guide the study. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The related literature to the study was reviewed under four main headings namely: conceptual framework, theoretical framework, Review of related empirical studies and summary of literature review. This study used a descriptive survey research design. A total of 101 community leaders, and 256 tourism staff making it 357 respondents were used as sample for the study. A 41 item questionnaire modeled on a four point rating scale was used to collect data for the study. Three experts validated the instrument. The instrument was trial tested and the reliability coefficient using Cronbach’s Alpha were .762 for cluster A, .635 for cluster B, .875 for cluster C and .677 for cluster D with an overall reliability coefficient of .827 respectively. The Research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation; the null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test and Focused Group Discussion were subjected to qualitative analysis. The results of the study revealed among others that tourism contributes to a very high extent to the economic development, social development, cultural development and environmental sustainability of Cross River State. The implications of the above findings were examined and it was recommended among other things that government should promote sustainable tourism development in order to ensure that the local communities benefit from the tourism resources within their domain.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Approval Page ii Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgment v
Abstract vii
Table of Contents viii
List of Tables
List of Appendices ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 8
Purpose of the Study 9
Significance of the Study 10
Research Questions 12
Hypotheses 13
Scope of the Study 13
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework 14
Concept of Assessment 14
Concept of Community Development 17
Concept of Tourism 24
Theoretical Framework 45
Stakeholders’ Theory 45
Community Development Theory 47
Review of Related Empirical Studies 48
Summary of Literature Review 52
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD
Design of the Study 55
Area of the Study 56
Population of the Study 56
Sample and Sampling Technique 56
Instrument for Data Collection 57
Validation of the Instrument 58
Reliability of the Instrument 59
Procedure for Data Collection 59
Method of Data Analysis 60
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CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATAS
Summary of the findings 70
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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONSAND SUMMARY
Discussions of the Results 73
Conclusion 77
Educational Implication of the Findings of the Study 78
Recommendations 79
Limitations of the Study 80
Suggestions for Further Studies 80
Summary of the Study 80
REFERENCES 84
APPENDICES 91
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Tourism is one of the leading and lucrative industries in the world today that serves as a source of income generation. United Nations World Tourism Organization, UNWTO, (2008) stated that tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business purposes. It can expedite development in all facets of human endeavour. Hence, most governments at various levels are able to generate huge capital for development of the society through tourism. Tourism is the art or practice of travelling, temporarily out of one’s place of abode and is a social phenomenon (Omeje, 2006). Buttressing further, the authors stated that it comprises the activities of a person or persons travelling to and staying in place(s) outside their usual home land or environment for not more than a year for leisure; business and other purposes than being employed in the place visited.
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It is also seen as recreational activities requiring at least one night stay away from home following a recreational interest. Such person could be foreigner or an indigene of that country. According to World Tourism Organization (2011), a foreign tourist is a person visiting a country other than that in which he resides, for a period of at least 24 hours. Justifying the above assertion, Akam and Bassey (2014) stated that tourism is influenced by tourism potentials which are those extraordinary natural, cultural, art and other resources in a particular place, places or country serving as tourist sites or attraction, interesting and appealing to the sight and auditory organs of human beings. Stressing further, Akam and Bassey (2014) stated that tourism lies in the beauty of nature and man-made tourism potentials which indeed are endless, as it is instinctive to human beings to appreciate the nature like landscape, lakes, mountains or hills, rivers, rocks, waterfalls, caves, monoliths, wildlife, among others. Man-made tourism potential includes extraordinary art works, architectural works, museum materials, archeological and cultural sites (Akam and Bassey, 2014). Thus, natural scenery, favourable weather and climate and cultural heritage are used for development through promotion of tourism and impact of tourism staff. According to Agcas (2013), a tourism staff is a manager who develops and promotes tourism in order to attract visitors and generate significant economic benefits for a particular region or site.
Besides, Africa is endowed with a lot of natural and man-made tourism potentials which Udeh (2014) highlighted as follows the Pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt, Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, Cape Town in South Africa, Virunga Mountains (Tracking Gorillas) in Democratic Republic of Congo, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Omo River Region in Ethiopia. In Nigeria, there are many tourism potentials from abundant natural to manmade tourist attractions such as Yankari Game reserve, in Bauchi State, Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, the National War Museum in Abia State, Ogbunike Cave in Anambra State, the Oguta lake in Imo State, Zuma Rock, Abuja just to mention a few (Udeh, 2014). (See Appendix F Page 143).
In fact, Cross River State has been christened as the tourism destination of Africa due to abundance of tourism potential such as Obudu Cattle Ranch, Old Residency Museum Calabar, Agbokim Waterfalls, Etanpim Cave, Mary Slessor’s Tomb Calabar, Cross River National Park, Akamkpa, Kwa Falls, Obubra Lake, Obubra and the Calabar Cenotaph, Ikom monoliths, Biajua Lake, Cross River National Park, Okwawor Division, Drill Ranch, Canopy Walk Way, Afi Wildlife Sanctuary, Mbe Mountain, Abo Hill which houses picarthartes (Birds), Tinapa Resort Centre, Marina Resort and a host of others (Udeh, 2014). (See Appendix G Page 144)
Tourism has been discovered to be a very potent instrument for community development due to its numerous benefits such as income generation from tourism activities which can be effectively utilized for meaningful community development projects. It has been identified globally as a tool for rural emancipation for poverty alleviation. According to Omeje (2006) this position was strengthened by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an arm of the World Bank which identified the World Tourism Organization as an invaluable tool for poverty alleviation in rural-urban migration, and provision of social infrastructural facilities in rural areas and creation of wealth among which employment and better standard of living are some of its dividends.
Furthermore, Omeje expressed that the Gross Domestic Product-GDP from tourism has been argued to be above that of the petroleum sector because it was observed that about 11 percent of World Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 10 percent of global employment of 212 million people world-wide and its total turnover volume is around US$3.4 billion, which represents 5.5% of the global GNP. Nations received about 154 million tourist arrivals, which represents approximately 25% of the international travel traffic and about 24% or US$109 billion, of the total hard currency income. Tunde (2012) stated that tourism is one of the fastest growing economic activities in the world. Tourism has been reborn as a possible tool to spur economic development while at the same time benefiting the environment and local social condition without harming the environment. It is an activity that contributes to a better understanding of places, people and their cultures. The author further stated that despite the attractiveness of the tourism sites in Cross River State its potentials were not harmonized neither is there any significant attention given to it in order to utilize and maximize these potentials.
Besides, there are many undermining factors such as insecurity, poor communication network, lack of power supply, lack of borehole, lack of skill acquisition centers, high rate of unemployment, lack of industries, lack of adult literacy centres, deplorable road network, communal clashes, lack of political will of our political leaders and lack of other social/basic amenities seems to have contributed to a large extent why there is low patronage of the tourism sites for tours, hence hampers the development of the communities.
Community refers to a group of people that share common geographical location, common cultural traits and traditional affinity which is normally a village or village group. (Ogunna,2007). Community is made up of people with common interest who work in accordance to achieving their common goals. In the context of this study, community is a group of people with a shared identity whose aims are to work in unity with the direction of community leaders. Phil (2007) described a community leader as one who sees to the affairs of a community, directs and mobilizes the people for the purpose of achieving a common goal and for their common development. Hence, World Bank (2006) affirms that development encompasses continuous change in variety of aspects of human society. It is a process that increases choices, and it means new options, diversification, thinking about apparent issues differently and anticipating change.
Development involves change, improvement of the peoples’ living condition; improve participation, flexibility, equity, attitudes, functional institutions and the quality of life. Buttressing further, World Bank states that development can be achieved through the efforts of the people engaging in activities that could bring about their development. This implies that to be sustainable, economic growth must be constantly nourished by the fruits of human development such as improvements in workers’ knowledge and skills along opportunities for their efficient use: more and better jobs, better conditions for new businesses to grow, and greater democracy at all levels of decision making. Justifying the above assertion, Akam and Bassey (2014) affirmed that development is an aspect of progression, increase, improvement and advancement in every sector of any country or in an individual life for a better society, and improve living condition of the people which could bring community development. Afuye (2005) asserted that community development is a structured intervention that gives communities greater control over the conditions that affect their lives hence, community development-means that a community itself engages in a process aimed at improving the social, economic and environmental situation of the community. Community development combines the idea of “community” with “development” towards impacting positively to the lives of a people in a given community through job creation, infrastructural development, empowerment, health, arts, education, cultural, religious, technological, political, social and economical growth of the people. Eze-Uzomaka (2006) contends that community development is an important part of the overall efforts at regional or national development of the people. Community development entails an improvement in education and employment, healthcare delivery, agriculture, social infrastructure, environmental conditions among others.
Community development does not just take place rather it requires both conscious and conscientious efforts of different people in a given community coming together for the purpose of executing project(s) to improve the community. From the foregoing, community development could be operationally defined as positive changes in socio-cultural, socio-economic and political settings of a giving geographical area which could be accessed through the innovations, civilization and advancement emanating from the above changes. In this regard, for effective community development to take place through tourism, the people in the community must contribute their individual or collective efforts to improve tourism activities for community development.
Tourism has been adjudged to have lofty benefit to host communities and the society in general to enhance the social standard of the people as well as contribute to community development of any given community. It can change both the environment and the lives of the members of that community. It enhances economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability of the people. Tourism is one of the most profitable businesses in the world. Fotuhinia, Toranlo, & Mazidi (2014) stated that the economic contribution of tourism now is great and cannot be underestimated in many countries due to its faster growth than other sectors of the economy and job opportunities. The author stressed further that tourism today is so important in the economic development of countries, and economists have called it as invisible exports which triggers social transformation.
The social contribution of tourism to community development should not be ignored by country, state, community and individual with positive idea for development as Omeje (2006) clearly states that today, no country of the world can afford to ignore the importance of tourism to its economic, social and cultural development. More than before, nations and group of nations have become increasingly more aware of the immense social benefits derivable from tourism with respect to its cultural contributions. Kung (2006) affirmed that cultural tourism is the subset of tourism concerned with a country or region’s culture, specifically the lifestyle of the people in those geographical areas, the history of those people, their art, architecture, religion(s), and other elements that helped shape their way of life. Cultural tourism includes tourism in urban and rural areas, particularly historic or large cities and their cultural facilities such as museums and theatres.
It can also include tourism in rural areas showcasing the traditions of indigenous cultural communities (that is festivals, rituals), and their values and lifestyle, as well as niches like industrial tourism and creative tourism which could enhance environmental sustainability. Other benefits of tourism include improvement of infrastructure, conservation of areas of outstanding natural beauty, conservation of archaeological and historic sites as well as improvement of environmental quality. Patil, (2013) identify some possible factors that could enhance tourism contributions as environmental factors such as good climate which is seen as one of the most important features of attraction for any tourist place(s). Pleasant climate with warmth and ample of sunshine attracts tourists who come from the temperate and colder regions. Beautiful scenery is a factor that could enhance tourism booms at picnic spots with beautiful sceneries. For example, sunrise and sunset points, long sea beaches, fresh water lakes, waterfalls among others often attract large numbers of tourists. However, since interests and tastes of tourists vary widely, they might choose from a wide range of attractions available at various destinations all over the world to make an impact to communities that host tourism. Communities can attain harmony and progress through the procedures they take to attract tourists and generate revenue for community development.
However, tourism could be influenced by many factors as captured in Dupond (2013) such as natural factors and socio-economic factors. The natural factors are resources that are available to tourism locations, destinations, climate, flora, fauna, proximities to water, comfortable and attractive or beautiful natural sites among others. The socio-economic factors are the development of space; recreational facilities with sophisticated or state-of-the-art equipment. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to assess the contributions of tourism to community development in Cross River State.
Assessment could be seen as a systematic collection and analysis of data in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, and organizations to improve the effectiveness. It involves making careful judgments about the worth, significance and meaning of phenomenon which is either about proving whether something is working or needed or improving practice or a project (Rogers and Smith, 2006). Justifying the above assertion Maxwell (2010) posited that assessment is the coordinated process of evaluating, investigating and examining a given phenomenon in order to ascertain useful information and feedback that will be used to address pertinent problems about the phenomenon. In related view Kizlik (2014) asserted that assessment is a process by which information is obtained relative to some known objective or goal. Assessment is a broad term that includes testing. A test is a special form of assessment. Tests are assessments made under contrived circumstances especially so that they may be administered. In other words, all tests are assessments, but not all assessments are tests Therefore, this assessment aims at determining the extent to which tourism has improved economic development, determine the extent to which tourism has contributed to social development, determine the contributions of tourism to cultural development, and finally to ascertain the extent to which tourism has contributed to the environmental sustainability in Cross River State
Statement of the Problem
Tourism is a potent sector for community development. Globally, tourism has become a sustainable source of revenue generation. The contribution of tourism to social, economic, cultural and environmental development of Cross River State cannot be overemphasized. Despite these enormous contributions of tourism to the study area, not much attention has been given to the development of the host communities in terms of construction of good roads, provision of portable water, rural electrification and construction of market among others. Could it be that Cross River State government have never thought about the potentials of tourism and what it can do for the host communities or could it be that these stakeholders treat tourism industry as a mere entertainment and not an instrument for economic development of the people and the entire community. Owing to the above scenario, it appears that adequate attention has not been given to community development through tourism in Cross River State despite its tourism potentials such as canopy work way, Obudu ranch resort and drill ranch among others. For instance, with the revenue accruing from these tourism sites no substantial evidence in terms of development could be seen in the study area. For example there are chains of potholes and dilapidated roads leading to the host communities. Also, there is high rate of unemployment, lack of skill acquisitions centers, abject poverty, unkempt environment and communal clashes.
Purpose of the Study
Consequently, the general purpose of this study was to assess the contributions of tourism to community development in Cross River State.
Specifically, the study sought to:
- determine the extent to which tourism has contributed to the economic development of Cross River State.
- determine the extent to which tourism has contributed to the social development of Cross River State
- determine the extent to which tourism has contributed to the cultural development of Cross River State.
- ascertain the extent to which tourism has contributed to the environmental sustainability of Cross River State.
Significance of the Study
This study has both theoretical and practical significance. The study will contribute to the existing knowledge on measures that best optimise the values and contributions of tourism to community development. It is hinged on stakeholders’ theory and community development theory. Theoretically, the findings of this study are considered significant because there is need for information for explaining tourism contribution to community development in order to facilitate better understanding of this phenomenon. The theoretical significance of stakeholders’ theory lies in where the progenitor postulated that the purpose of any business or establishment is to create as much value as possible for stakeholders. In order to succeed and be sustainable over time, executives must keep the interests of customers, suppliers, employees, communities and shareholders aligned and going in the same direction for any development. While community development theory places the responsibility for the development of community on the people. The people, working through their own organizations, have the vision, know-how, capabilities and experience to confront and solve the problems of underdevelopment. In view of the aforementioned, the study shall theoretically be significant because its findings shall extend the dimension where these theories are often being applied to achieve significant results for the assessment of contribution of tourism to community development.
Practically, this study would be of immense benefit to the following individuals and corporate bodies. Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism, tourists, archeologists, educationist, historians, environmentalists, community development workers at Local, State and Federal levels and future researchers.
The findings of the study will be of immense benefit to the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism by gaining good information on how tourism can be developed and improved to attract tourists for the betterment of lives of the host communities, community development and increase revenue generation among others. The study will be unique, useful and meaningful to Ministries of Arts, Culture, Tourism, Environment and Finance by providing them with ample materials for policy making and implementation. This is because any study that makes an input regarding access to information in Tourism Sector will go a long way to improving tourism activities in Cross River State and the nation at large.
The findings of the study will as well be of significance to tourists if made available to them through written article, magazine, and dailies. This is because the tourists will begin to enjoy the innovations that will be articulated to the sites as a result of the findings of the study such as establishing archaeological monuments, upgrading the facilities in the museum and provision of basic infrastructure for tourist attraction among others. Archeologists will immensely benefit from the findings of this study because the research work will give guide on how to get archeological deposits from ancestral sites by discovering new tourist site that will improve the history of tourism.
The educational experts such as the administrators, instructors and lecturers, including formal and non-formal education programmes at various levels will benefit greatly from the findings of this study because it will provide them with new administrative, managerial, tourism and community development approaches for community development. The findings of this study will also be of immense significance to the historians in that it will expose many activities which they will anchor their findings and documentaries upon which could also serve as point of reference regarding tourism activities for community development in Cross River State and the nation at large.
The findings of this study will also be of immense significance to the environmentalists. This is because if the findings of the study are made available to them through seminars, workshops and symposiums, it will enable them to gain insightful knowledge on how to work in salvaging the deplorable condition of tourism activities in Cross River State and the nation at large. The findings of this research will unveil ways and strategies such as incorporating festivals in such a way that community development could be achieved through tourism. This will be useful to those in position of authority and community leaders in creating conducive and peaceful environment for community development to take place through tourism.
Finally, researchers will benefit from the findings of the study because it will provide them with useful information for further research. The study will also serve as useful resource document which will likely be consulted. It will equally contribute greatly to scholarly work and useful document.
Research Questions
This study will be guided by the following research questions:
- To what extent has tourism contributed to the economic development of Cross River State?
- To what extent has tourism contributed to the social development of Cross River State?
- To what extent has tourism contributed to the cultural development of Cross River State?
- To what extent has tourism contributed to the environmental sustainability of Cross River State?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.
H01: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of community leaders and tourism staff on the extent to which tourism has contributed to the economic development of Cross River State.
H02: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of community leaders and tourism staff on the extent to which tourism has contributed to the social development of Cross River State.
H03: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of community leaders and tourism staff on the extent to which tourism has contributed to the cultural development of Cross River State.
Scope of the Study
The study was restricted to the assessment of contributions of tourism to community development in Cross River State with focus on the extent to which tourism has contributed to the economic, social, cultural, development and environmental sustainability to community development in Cross River State.
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