CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Tourism as an industry is becoming one of the most popular and
profitable industry the world over which no country, state or localities
(especially those endowed with tourism potentials) can afford to neglect. Its
economic power is an indispensable promotion to the development of any nation.
Being a service industry,
tourism can be subjected to empirical studies just like any industry. Its
social and economic impacts on surrounding areas or periphery can therefore be
measured.
Tourism is no longer an
obscure industry all over the world. Its status in international trade is such
that no serious-minded country can afford to ignore it. Many researchers,
international, national regional as well as individual researchers have been
conducted on the subject. Many authors, therefore, have one thing or the other
to say on tourism.
According to Femi
Olokesusi (2009), tourism is a form of recreation that requires leaving home
for some other places, whether near or far. When such movements are confirmed
within the country of the origin, it is referred to as “domestic Tourism”. On
the other hand, when people travel from their countries of origin to another
for recreation-related activities, such tourism is referred to as
international; tourism.
In the words of Sangari
Abdulmunin (1991), tourism, by the simple definition could mean the movement of
a person from his abode to another of leisure.
The Oxford English
Dictionary, Second Edition, Volume 18 defines tourism as the theory and
practice of touring; travelling for pleasure. Also, the business of attracting
tourists and providing for their accommodation and entertainment, the business
of operating tours.
The definition of both
“tourism” and “recreation” is needed at the onset because as claimed by
Olekesui (1989), people often misconstrue recreation for tourism. Tourism in
its simplest form can be defined as recreation that involves travelling while
the contemporary, recreation is an activity performed during leisure that does
not involve travelling.
Recreation is therefore
defined as a refreshment or comfort produced by something affecting the senses
or body. It is further defined as the action of recreating (oneself or
another), or fact of being recreated by some pleasant occupation, pastime or
amusement or a means of recreating oneself by a pleasurable exercise or
employment. A recreationist is therefore seen as one who pursues a recreation.
According to Randle,
tourism can either be domestic, intermediate or international. By domestic, he
meant national citizens who wish to spend their holiday in the country while by
intermediate, he refers to intra-continental tourism. Olokosusi (1989) also
agreed with him on the classification of tourism. He however identified only
two, viz: domestic and international tourism. Tourism thus classified is based
on the origin and/or destination of the travelling recreationist.
Bryden (1972) defined
tourism as the sum of the phenomenon and relationships arising from the travel
and stay of non-residents, in so far as they do not lead to permanent residency
and are not connected with any earning activity.
While Wall et al (1985)
indicated that tourism involves the movement of people away from their place of
permanent abode and their temporary sojourn in other locations.
Tourism comprises of
activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual permanent
places of residence for not more than one consecutive year for leisure,
business and other purposes. Based on this, the tourism industry includes all
socio-economic activities that are directly or
indirectly involved in providing
services to tourist. The concept of leisure has assumed increasing importance
in the lives of many in western and developing societies during the last
century. Expanding horizons resulting from increased leisure time, wealth and
technological advances like the railway allowed more people to travel further
afield in search of pleasurable experiences as the nineteenth century
progressed.
Nineteenth century
travelers became twentieth century tourists, following prescribed programs to
see new place for their interest, scenery or the like.
Nigeria is richly endowed with a large
population with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, expanse of vegetation
with different variety of flora and fauna stretching from the mangrove swamps
and equatorial rainforest zones in the south to the semi desert in the North.
This is transverse by rivers of various sizes and
interspaced with hills, mountain ranges
and waterfalls, with these natural features and scenic beauty coupled with two
distinct climatic seasons, Nigeria is arguably created to be a tourist delight
on the Africa continent.
Organized tourism in Nigeria has
however remained low in spite of these.
Tourism was accorded priority status in
Nigeria in 1990 with the launching of the National Tourism Policy which was to
generate foreign exchange earnings, create employment oppo tunities, and
promote rural enterprise and national integration. Various types of tourism are
on offer in Nigeria, from conference tourism
to festival tourism, agriculture and
cultural tourism. An investigation will be made into what constitutes sustainable
Tourism in Nigeria as well as its prospects and problems
Statement of Problem
For the tourism
industry as a sector of the Nigerian economy, it is not in dispute that it has
abundance of resources that can diversified to transform the socio-economic
lives of the populace yet, the sector’s performance is nowhere in tune with
turning the economy into a foreign exchange earner.
The tourism industry’s various sectors
are yet to have adequate, quality and standard development efforts including
the building of its capacity in the areas of natural resource of the national
parks, game reserves, beaches, plateau, forests and other natural spots;
transport (either air, land and water); the accommodation with hotel, hostel,
shared apartment, guest houses, camps etc); the catering services (i.e.
Restaurants, Cafes, fast food shops clubs, bars etc); Entertainment (i.e.
Museums, cultural shows, night clubs, drama & dances); souvenir providing
works of carvings, weavings, sculptures and various art works including
managers and operators of attractions i.e. parks and events i.e conferences,
fairs, exhibitions, festivities among others
Tourism has often been looked upon as
an industry associated with the west and patronized by idle people with time
and money and no better way to spend it. Tourism has however become an impetus
to sustained growth and development in many countries of the world, and no
longer as just a generator of foreign exchange.
The world Tourism Organization (WTO)
reports that tourism accounts for 40 percent of global trade in services,
making it one of the largest categories of international trade (UNWTO, 2006;
Ferguson, 2007). In 2005 alone, 3 to 10 percent of the GDP of development
countries was derived from the tourism industry (WTO, 2005). As a result, it is
not farfetched to imagine that tourism can be a viable export oriented economic
growth strategy for creating jobs and accelerating development to lift people
up from abject
poverty.
However, despite the popularity and
increasing importance of tourism among continents of the world and particularly
Africa, it has attracted relatively low attention in the economic development
literature and little empirical study has been done on tourism’s relationship
with economic growth in the Nigerian context
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
The
research work will examine the following research questions
1.
What are
the problem facing tourism in nigeria
2.
Does
tourism have impact on socio-economic development in Nigeria?
3.
What are
the Strategies that can adopted in
develop tourist development in Nigeria ?
4.
What are
the possible solution to the problem of tourism in Nigeria
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
specific objectives are to:
1.
To
invesitage the problem facing tourism in
nigeria
2.
Find out
the impact of tourism on
socio-economic development in Nigeria?
3.
Determine
the Strategies that can be adopted in
development tourist development in
Nigeria ?
4.
What are
the possible solution to the problem of tourism in Nigeria
1.7 SIGNIFIANCE OF THE STUDY
This will enlighten the local populace
about the important of tourism in
Nigeria
It will help to know the resources to
be developed, managed and promoted for tourism and community development (e.g.
cultural and nature-based or eco-tourism).
This development can bring forth
the provision of social amenities and infrastructures, construction of modern
roads, active cultural institutions, sustainable environment, provision of
employment opportunities and many other benefits in the study areas.
Finally, the recommendations that
would be given in this report would optimistically provide the necessary
information and strategies needed by the students, researchers, government and
other sets of people, who are concerned in the development and management of
cultural and natural resources to boost the disciplines of archaeology, museum,
tourism and other cultural related fields in the community.
