Problems and Prospects of Community-Based Ecotourism Development in Ethiopia

Dr. Muthyalu Meniga; Mr. Jemal Ousman

Volume : VI, Issue : III, March - 2017

Problems and Prospects of Community-Based Ecotourism Development in Ethiopia

Dr. Muthyalu Meniga, Mr. Jemal Ousman

Abstract :

Ecotourism involves visiting natural areas with the objectives of learning, studying or participating in activities that do not ing negative effects to the environment; whilst protecting and empowering the local community socially and economically. The tourism is considered as a good strategy for sustainable development in the developing countries. The community based ecotourism is a tourism in which local community participate to control and manage the nature, as a result the community attain the benefits of the ecotourism. This research paper is a conceptual and has been prepared based on literature review. Different conceptual and empirical studies related to community based eco-tourism have been reviewed and examined. This paper presents findings based on the secondary data. This paper attempts to identify the problems facing community based ecotourism in Ethiopia and propose some recommendations for development of a modern and sustainable community based ecotourism in the country. The main problems are lack of inherent tourism potential, lack of tourist investment, lack of knowledge and awareness, lack of technical Know-how and weak promotional activity etc. One of the essential elements of ecotourism is the encouragement of active participation of local population in the conservation process and careful consideration should also be made to the distribution of benefits of ecotourism amongst locals. Therefore, the active involvement of local communities in ecotourism development projects is very essential for its sustainability. Local communities have several rooms of participation in ecotourism programs.