Contribution of Inbound Tourism for Community Livelihood in Ethiopia: The Case of Simien Mountains National Park, North West Ethiopia
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Date
2015-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This research examined the contribution of inbound tourism to the community livelihood in
Ethiopia: the case of Simien Mountains National Park, North West Ethiopia. The research
method used is mixed; the quantitative and qualitative approaches done concurrently. The
research revealed that the inbound tourism contributes for job creation, supports the
agricultural activities, saving, and small and micro-enterprises through additional
disposable income generation. It also supports the human capital development of the
community as, food and nutrition, education health, housing and access for technology.
The inbound tourism helped to link the agriculture, the souvenir business with the tourism
service activities. The agriculture supplies the tourism with vegetables, fruits, live animals
such as chicken, sheep, goats and the like and rent pack animals. Still there is a gap in the
import substitution. The souvenir article production and sales also benefit from the tourism.
Age and education are found to be the most important factors that affect income from tourism
services. The more educated earn better than the less educated and the younger earns more
than the older. Though it has relation with tourism income, sex is not found to be significant
factor. Tourism is found to contribute significantly for the livelihood of the local community
in the case of the Simen Mountains national park. It contributes for employment creation,
government income in form of entrance, income tax from enterprise and the workers, etc. The
research also revealed that there are challenges for tourism at individual such as lack of
knowledge, sill, language and the like, at community level village and household sanitation to
attract visitors’ experience, lack of awareness for tourism and government level not
professionalize the sector, intervention in the private service sector, and others
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Social Work