GIS-Based Ecotourism Potential Assessment in Bahir Dar and its Surroundings, Ethiopia
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Date
2023-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In Ethiopia, the population number was increasing continuously with agricultural land expansion and urbanization for the last five decades. The present study aimed to assess the changes in land Ecotourism has a strong connection with sustainable tourism. Sustainability depends on the relationship between tourism and environment. Ethiopia’s sustainable tourism master plan (2015), has set a high growth objective of 5 million foreign tourists in 2025. The aim of this study is to explore the capability of AHP and GIS technique for identify potential ecotourism sites in Bahir Dar and its surroundings, Ethiopia. This is also an additional benefit achieved by integrating geoscientific aspects in the land-use decision process and this area, having plenty of tourist attractions, could be a source for both domestic and foreign tourists. Thus, this is a crucial and pioneer work in this field of study, and it should be used as an ideal blueprint for ecotourism planner for ecotourism site development. a base map of the study area is constructed and used to generate a number of factor maps using various GIS approaches. In GIS, each factor is represented on a map as a layer. Each map reflects a single sub criterion and can be referred to as a theme layer or data layer. They represent how the traits are dispersed in space and how they help to achieve the goals. After creating a Digital Elevation Model map of the study region, elevation, slope, aspect, land use land cover class, and rainfall maps were created in GIS. an important factor has a greater impact on the outcome than other factors. Hence, the weight LULC map is 49 % and the remaining elevation map, slope map, aspect map, existing tourist destination sits and road network map are 19 %, 15%, 11 %, and 10% and 5%, respectively. With approximately 2,065 hectares of land, Bahir Dar and its surroundings have the potential to be ecotourism sites. According to the characteristics and parameters we used, the majority of the study area, about 52 percent, is moderately suitable for ecotourism. The 35 percent of the study area is not suitable for ecotourism tourist destination site. The studied area has a strong potential for ecotourism development in general. Despite the presence of various problems in the area, there are great potentials and chances to maximize the advantages of ecotourism activity in order to improve the livelihoods of the inhabitants.
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Keywords
Ecotourism, GIS, Bahir Dar, AHP, Consistency, Weight Factor