Community Involvement in Tourism Development: The Setbacks and Drawbacks
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajth.v4i1.4848Keywords:
Butre, Community Involvement, Drawbacks, Setbacks, Tourism DevelopmentAbstract
The study assessed the factors that neglect community involvement in tourism development in the Butre Community. A quantitative research design was employed, where five hundred (500) respondents were selected for the study. The stratified sampling technique was used in the selection of respondents. Data were collected using a questionnaire, and with the help of SPSS, the data were analyzed and then presented using mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression. The study revealed significant barriers to community involvement in tourism development, including the prioritization of external investors, weak governance structures, and insufficient consideration of local cultural values. Also, the study showed that community involvement was crucial for the sustainability of tourism projects, yet significant gaps exist in economic benefit distribution, cultural preservation, and ecological knowledge integration. The regression analysis results demonstrated that while wealth disparity and the dominance of external investors hampered community participation in Butre’s tourism, inclusive characteristics like government involvement, cultural respect, training access, and environmental focus increased it. Therefore, tourism developers and policymakers should actively involve local communities in decision-making to enhance project sustainability and prevent conflicts. Government and tourism authorities should implement policies that ensure fair distribution of tourism revenues to benefit local communities.
References
Amoako-Atta, E. E., Dayour, F. F., & Bonye, S. Z. (2020). Community participation in the management of Wechiau
Community Hippo sanctuary, Ghana. Ghana Journal of Development Studies, 17(1), 1-24.
Bandé, A., Ika, L. A., & Ouédraogo, S. (2024). Beneficiary participation is an imperative, not an option, but does it
really work in international development projects?. International Journal of Project Management, 42(1), 102561-102572.
Bell, C., & Newby, H. (2021). Community studies: An introduction to the sociology of the local community.
Routledge.
Burns, P., & Novelli, M. (2020). Community participation in tourism development: The role of the private sector. Tourism Management, 79(4), 104088-104099.
Chan, J. K. L., Marzuki, K. M., & Mohtar, T. M. (2021). Local community participation and responsible tourism
practices in ecotourism destination: A case of lower Kinabatangan, Sabah. Sustainability, 13(23), 13302.
Chaudhary, S., McGregor, A., Houston, D., & Chettri, N. (2018). Environmental justice and ecosystem services: A
disaggregated analysis of community access to forest benefits in Nepal. Ecosystem Services, 29(3), 99-115.
Dodds, R., Ali, A., & Galaski, K. (2018). Mobilizing knowledge: Determining key elements for success and pitfalls
in developing community-based tourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 21(13), 1547-1568.
Ellery, P. J., & Ellery, J. (2019). Strengthening community sense of place through Place making. Urban
planning, 4(2), 237-248.
Eshun, G., & Tichaawa, T. M. (2020). Community participation, risk management and ecotourism sustainability
issues in Ghana. Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites, 28(1), 313-331.
Gabriel-Campos, E., Werner-Masters, K., Cordova-Buiza, F., & Paucar-Caceres, A. (2021). Community eco-tourism
in rural Peru: Resilience and adaptive capacities to the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 48, 416-427.
Gidebo, H. B. (2023). Linking livelihood and biodiversity conservation in protected areas: Community based
Tourism development perspective from developing country. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 23(3), 361-375.
Hampton, M. P., Maher, M. E., & Lutz, K. (2020). Community involvement in tourism development: Policy,
practice, and prospects. Tourism Planning & Development, 17(2), 189-203.
Jones, S., & Jones, J. (2021). The role of local communities in environmental conservation through tourism.
Conservation and Society, 19(3), 214-228.
Jovchelovitch, S. (2019). Knowledge in context: Representations, community and culture. Routledge.
Kala, D., & Bagri, S. C. (2018). Barriers to local community participation in tourism development: Evidence from
mountainous state Uttarakhand, India. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 66(3), 318-333.
Kumi, J. N., Kumah, M. S., Afetorgbor, S. K., & Apeamenyo, R. (2018). Factors that hinder local participation of
ecotourism in Ghana: Case study of WLI. IJAR, 4(12), 180-186.
Li, J., Krishnamurthy, S., Roders, A. P., & Van Wesemael, P. (2020). Community participation in cultural heritage
management: A systematic literature review comparing Chinese and international practices. Cities, 96(3), 102476-102545.
Lin, Y., Kelemen, M., & Kiyomiya, T. (2021). Bridging community resilience and sustainable tourism development
via post-disaster education tourism in rural Japan. The Journal of Organization and Discourse, 2(1), 32-44.
Liu, Y. L., Chiang, J. T., & Ko, P. F. (2023). The benefits of tourism for rural community development. Humanities
and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 1-12.
Mowforth, M., & Munt, I. (2019). Community-based tourism: The rhetoric and the reality. Tourism Review
International, 23(4), 271-285.
Muresan, R. M., Rosu, M., & Zmora, A. (2019). Tourism and economic development: The role of community
involvement. Sustainability, 11(7), 2047.
Oduor, A. M. (2020). Livelihood impacts and governance processes of community-based wildlife conservation in
Maasai Mara ecosystem, Kenya. Journal of Environmental Management, 260(2), 110133.
Okazaki, E. (2018). Community participation in tourism: A review of the literature. Annals of Tourism Research,
72(2), 66-77.
Partelow, S. (2021). Social capital and community disaster resilience: post-earthquake tourism recovery on Gili
Trawangan, Indonesia. Sustainability science, 16(1), 203-220.
Rahman, S. S., & Baddam, P. R. (2021). Community Engagement in Southeast Asia’s Tourism Industry:
Empowering Local Economies. Global Disclosure of Economics and Business, 10(2), 75-90.
Saayman, M., & Giampiccoli, A. (2018). Community-based tourism and sustainable development: Evidence from
rural tourism in South Africa. Tourism Management Perspectives, 26, 34-40.
Salazar, N. B. (2020). Cultural preservation through community-based tourism: The importance of local
involvement. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 15(3), 221-236.
Scheyvens, R., & Biddulph, R. (2018). Inclusive tourism development. Tourism Geographies, 20(4), 589-609.
Sharp, J., Pollock, V., & Paddison, R. (2020). Just art for a just city: Public art and social inclusion in urban
regeneration. In Culture-Led Urban Regeneration (pp. 156-178). Routledge.
Sileyew, K. J. (2019). Research design and methodology (Vol. 7). Cyberspace.
Tubey, W. C., Kyalo, D. N., & Mulwa, A. (2019). Socio-cultural conservation strategies and sustainability of
community based tourism projects in Kenya: A case of Maasai Mara conservancies. Journal of Sustainable Development, 12(6), 90-102.
UNESCO. (2020). Community participation in tourism development and the preservation of cultural heritage.
UNESCO Reports, 56, 112-118.
UNWTO. (2019). Guidelines for sustainable tourism development and community involvement. UNWTO
Publications, 72, 1-12.
Wondirad, A., & Ewnetu, B. (2019). Community participation in tourism development as a tool to foster sustainable
land and resource use practices in a national park milieu. Land use policy, 88(2), 104-155.
Yanes, A., Zielinski, S., Diaz Cano, M., & Kim, S. I. (2019). Community-based tourism in developing countries: A
framework for policy evaluation. Sustainability, 11(9), 2506-2521.
Ye, J., Qin, Y., & Wu, H. (2024). Cultural heritage and sustainable tourism: unveiling the positive correlations and
economic impacts. Current Psychology, 43(47), 36393-36415.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Felix Kudjo Mlagada
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
