Interaction, Institutions and Impacts of Tourism on the Bishoftu-Modjo- Hawassa Route, Central Ethiopia
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Date
2015-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The Bishoftu-Modjo-Hawassa tourist route bestows enjoyable natural and cultural tourist attractions
both to domestic and international tourists. It hosts lakes, hot springs, parks and cultural events that
uniquely epitomize tourism phenomena in central Ethiopia. A seemingly simple tourist-local contact,
that takes place in and around the attraction sites, opens windows of opportunities to forge short- and
long-term relationships between tourists and locals. As a result, the central thesis of the dissertation
deals with the examination of tourist-local interaction, social exchange relations, local tourism
institutions and resultant impacts on the residents.
The empirical assessments elsewhere in Ethiopia and the circumstances on the route have conferred
the paucity of sociological research on tourist-local interaction, social-exchange relations, institutional
interventions and impacts. This study borrowed the pragmatist research philosophy that advocates
ontological and epistemological mixes in an effort to explore and minimize the gaps noted on the
empirical knowledge. As an extension of the pragmatist philosophy, the research strategy employs the
triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods. As mirror to the methodological triangulation,
the analysis has followed a convergent design that combines descriptive and inferential techniques
with the themes emerging through qualitative explorations.
A mix of the tenets of Interactionism, Social Exchange Theory and Theories of Modernity [global
cultural flows and risk thesis] deployed to carry out the analysis of concepts, facts, numbers and
themes, which proliferate as arguments. The propositions of these theories have witnessed their
practical relevance in the investigation of tourist-local interaction, social exchange practices and
impacts. Besides, the developmental perspective and ideology adopted by the Ethiopian government
provided insights to the policy and strategic discussions pertaining to the operation of tourism
institutions and the phenomena of tourism on the route.
The findings of the research revealed that the natural tourist attraction settings on the Bishoftu-Modjo-
Hawassa route constitute the spots where tourist-local interrelationships emerge and take distinctive
forms. The emerging interrelationships pave the ground for intercultural exchanges that recur between
tourists and locals. The intercultural exchanges have involved the circulation of cultural traits,
economic assets and lifestyles. Both the processes of interaction and exchange relations have pushed
away the ordinary locals to the fringes of experiencing the fruits of interaction and exchange relations.
In connection, the roles of the tourism institutions in mediating interactional and exchange practices
are either negligible or taken for granted. Poor coordination, limitation of resources and shallow
integrations with the wider community are characteristics of local tourism institutions on the route.
Based on categorical classifications of the level interaction, the survey result has conferred that the
level of tourist-local interaction on the route fell under moderate level i.e. not low or high. The Chi-
Square Test of Association run for factors such as gender of tourists, age of tourists, cycles of tourists’
visit to a site per day, locals’ religious denomination, educational attainment of the locals and
occupational categories of the locals have shown statistically significant relations, at [α=0.05], with
the level of tourist-local interaction. The Multinomial Logistic Regression Model identified that the
number of tourists in a traveling group and the educational attainment of the locals are among the
significant predictors that distinguished locals who have high level of interaction with the tourists
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from those locals who have low interaction in reference to those locals who experienced moderate
level of interaction with the tourists.
One of the core findings of the study was the consequences of interactional and exchange practices on
the local residents, which took two forms: (a) beneficial, and (b) disruptive. For the community subsegments
up front in the interactional ladders, particularly for local guides and service providers, the
phenomena of interaction and exchange has continued to create livelihood options, generated
employment opportunities, diversified their income sources and boosted their mutual communications
with tourists. The Chi-Square Test of Association for each of these variables, in turn, hold significant
associations with the level of the positive consequences of tourism on the locals, at [α=0.05].
However, the strengths of their associations were weak. On the downside, tourist-local interactions
and exchange practices have affected the sanctity of (a) locals’ cultural traits, (b) their environment, in
addition to fueling the spread of social ills such as begging and theft. As a whole, the beneficial
consequences surpass the disruptions caused via tourism on the route.
The research results implicate on multitudes of issues. Above all, there is a need to integrate efforts
towards the mobilization of tourism resources for local, regional and national developments.
Secondly, in order to do so, the policies and strategies should align the stronger tunes of the rhetoric
with the practices in the local structures and institutions. Thirdly, the results underlined the importance
of better coordination and networking among the tourism establishments and major players. Finally,
the study results call for strong community-tourism industry linkage in the endeavors to undertake
rigorous and applied research. In addition to contributing to the institutionalization of sociology of
tourism in Ethiopia, the attainment of these implications would enable harnessing and realizing the
potential of tourism for social development
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Keywords
sociology of tourism; tourist attractions; tourist-local interaction; social exchange relations; tourism institutions; impacts; Bishoftu-Modjo-Hawassa tourist route and tourist sites