CONTRIBUTION OF TOURISM TO THE HOUSEHOLD SUBJECTIVE WELL- BEING IN MACHAME VILLAGE, TANZANIA - Africa Natural Tours ( africanaturaltours.com )
CONTRIBUTION OF TOURISM TO THE HOUSEHOLD SUBJECTIVE WELL- BEING
IN MACHAME VILLAGE, TANZANIA
Africa Natural Tours
Africa
Natural Tours (For Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and Zanzibar) Tanzania safari company
in Moshi
Specialized
in: Wildlife safaris, Mountain climbing,
Cultural tourism and Beach holidays in East Africa
Contact
+255 653 679 958
Email:
info@africanaturaltours.com
Website: www.africanaturaltours.com
By Godfrey A. Ngaiza
(The
founder of Africa Natural Tours)
ABSTRACT
This study aimed
at assessing the contribution
of tourism to the household subjective well- being. Specifically the
study looked on identifying
tourist activities carried out in Machame village, determining benefit of tourism
activities towards household subjective well- being in Machame Village, identifying
current challenges facing tourism towards household subjective
well- being in
Machame Village and examining means of strengthening tourism activities towards
household
subjective well- being
in Machame. A cross- research design was applied. The population of this study
involved villagers in Machame area. In
this study 100 villagers in Machame area were sampled. The study used simple random
sampling in gathering of data from study area. Interviews and questionnaires
were used for collection of primary data. The study collected both quantitative
and qualitative data which were coded, organized, processed and converted into
tables, by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Computer
Software and Microsoft excel were used because it enabled proper description of
ideas in form of tables, charts and figures which simplifies data
interpretation. Villagers has responded on different tourism activities carried
out in Machame village, such as business, handcraft, tour operator, guide and taxi,
fruit selling, Hotel activities, Food vendor, Entertainment and Small business.
Respondent had listed on different contributions such as employment creation, income
generation, increased asset ownership, challenges such as cultural pollution and
immoral behaviors were identified. Community
perceived tourism as important and that it generally complemented and supported
rather than conflicting with other economic activities.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Tourism is recognized as one of the fastest growing
industries in the world and its significant in the majority of poor countries
that currently affects the livelihoods of many of the world’s poor (WTO, 2009).
According to the United Nations Report (2005), the number of international
travelers worldwide has grown from 689 million in 2000 to over 764 million in
2004 (Jackson, 2007). Also the international tourism revenues also have grown
from US dollar 484 billion to over 633 billion US dollar in same years which
represents an average growth rate of six percent.
Tanzania's most well-known tourist attractions are located
in the northern part of the country and include Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's
highest mountain. Serengeti National Park is world famous and has spectacular
seasonal migrations of animals. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area includes the
Ngorongoro Crater, which is an extinct volcanic caldera with lions,
hippopotamus, elephants, various types of antelope, the endangered black
rhinoceros, and large herds of wildebeest and zebra. Lake Manyara, Kilimanjaro,
Arusha, Rubondo Island, Tarangire, and Saanane Island national parks are
tourists attractions found in Tanzania.
The
western part of Tanzania includes the Mahale, Katavi, and Gombe national parks,
the latter of which is the site of Jane Goodall's ongoing study which begun in
1960, of chimpanzee behavior. The southern part of Tanzania includes the Ruaha,
Kitulo, Mikumi, and Udzungwa national parks and the Selous Game Reserve.
Tourism is also focused on the coast, including Saadani National Park and
especially the islands of Unguja and Pemba in Zanzibar and Mafia Island on the
further south. Game fishing and diving are the main attractions in these
islands. There is also a wide variety of destinations for cultural tourism such
as Maasai boma and Bushmen settlement.
Kilimanjaro
National Park (KINAPA) has tourist attractions like free-standing, snow-covered
dormant volcano, majestic Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.
Located in northeast Tanzania, it can be seen from far into Kenya and Amboseli
National Park. 75,000 people climb Kilimanjaro every year so it is not the most
untouched mountain, nor is it the most arduous (BoT 2009). However, it is
certainly a test of one’s endurance, with altitude sickness the main reason for
climbers not to summit. Although it has become a very popular
challenge and the experience slightly crowded with other climbers, we still
highly recommend it for anyone with even a vague interest in mountaineering.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The United Republic of Tanzania has launched the National
Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) which also encourages
sustainable tourism for poverty reduction (URT, 2005).
It seems
that the tourism activities within the area are mostly done by men rather than
women. However, poverty is still pre-dominant in the rural areas for both men
and women, meaning targeting needs to be intensified in the rural areas.
Inequitable access to the means of production (land and capital), the
distribution of wealth, reduced access to economic goods and services and
remunerative employment are all causes of poverty (Benavides, 2011).
However,
tourism is a complex industry, which is driven by the private sector and often
by large international companies which have little or no interest in ensuring household
subjective well- being.
It is also possible that with the current technological development tourism
earnings remain outside the destination country due to linkages. In addition,
tourism can cause negative effects such as environmental problems, cultural
pollution and immoral behavior. The study intended to assess contribution of
Tourism towards household subjective well- being to the surrounding environment. Since
Tanzania is rapidly becoming a major tourist destination, it was worthwhile to
assess the contribution of tourism to the enhancement household subjective well- being.
1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General objective
The general objective of this study was to identify
contribution of Tourism towards household subjective
well- being in Machame
Village
1.3.2 Specific objectives
The study specifically
aimed to:
(i) Identify tourism activities carried out in
Machame village towards household subjective well- being
(ii) Determine contributions
of tourism activities towards household subjective well- being in Machame Village
(iii)Identifying
current challenges facing tourism towards household subjective
well- being in
Machame Village
(iv) Examining
means of strengthening tourism activities towards household
subjective well- being
in Machame
2.0 LITERATURE RIVIEW
2.1 The
theory of economic growth on tourism
Economic Growth refers to an increase in a country’s
production capacity. Growth may be stimulated by an increase in the quantity or
quality of the factors of production such as labor and capital (Wickets, 2006)
thus the theory of economic growth, general deals with economics long run trend
or potential growth parts. Accordingly to Harold- Dormer model, a full
employment equilibrium growth requires that the warranted role of growth should
equal to the natural rate of growth. At the equilibrium level the mathematical
formula is;
I=S=Y
Where;
I = Investment, S = Saving and Y = Income.
From
above formula it shows that the growth rate of the investments resulted from
the generation of the capital flows which attributed by the expansion of the
private investors’ growth in a country (Wickets, 2006). Under economic
perspective the linkage between the increasing rate of the of the personal
income require the development of both foreign and domestic investors to the
country by which eventually will facilitate the income generation for both the
national and individual level
According
to the Multiplier1 effect of tourism sector to the economic growth of the
country, the tourism sector contribute to the development of the other sectors
since the an increasing of the supply of the tourism investors led to the an
increasing of the related tourism activities like restaurants, hotels, tour
guides, selling the cultural hand craft and all others activities related with
tourism sectors, thus those may led as the source of income of the household (Andronicou,
2009).
Luvanga and Shitundu (2003) did the study which concern with
the role of tourism in poverty alleviation in Tanzania. According to their
study tourism activities can affect poverty alleviation positively or
negatively. Positive contributions may be registered through employment
creation, income generation, and increased asset ownership, contribution to
basic needs and contributions to community contributions. However, together
with contributions, linkages and multipliers, tourism effects may result in
some costs or negative impacts. These may be seen through environmental
problems, cultural pollution, immoral behavior and conflicts with other socio
economic activities. The impact of tourism sector to an economy of the country
direct derive from the income receive by the villagers through direct or
indirect employment.
Haji
(2011) through her study on prospects and challenges facing women entrepreneurs
involved in tourism industry in overcoming poverty. She considered role of
women toward the poverty alleviation at the local level and revealed that
tourism has the potential to reduce women poverty. She also observed that those
who had participated have been positive by benefited from the tourism industry.
However, there are several opportunities yet to be utilized by women
entrepreneurs. In this respect therefore, it would be more beneficial and
profitable for women and men who are entrepreneurs to organize them to reap
maximum contributions from tourism industry. Indeed, efforts are needed to
enable local entrepreneurs’ in particular local women to withstand the
competition of foreigners.
3.0 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Paradigms (Philosophy)
In this research, researcher
adopted positivism as the philosophical approach in conducting the study. With
this phenomenon, the only positive requirements to the respondents on the contribution of tourism to the
household subjective well- being
3.2 Research Design
Research design
is an overall plan that guides the entire process to which research question
shall be answered and includes data
collection procedures as well as data analysis (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007). A
cross-sectional survey research design was applied. The design was useful for
description purposes as well as for the determination of the relationship
between and among the variables. The method consumes less time in data
gathering.
3.3 Description of the Study Area
The study was conducted in Machame, in Hai District at
Kilimanjaro region. The District is one of the seven districts of Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the south and west by
the Arusha
Region, to the west by the Siha
District, to the north by Kenya, and to the east
by the Moshi
Rural District and the Rombo District (URT, 2012). The
western breach part of Mount Kilimanjaro is located in the Hai District. According
to the 2012 census, the population of the Hai District was 210 533. Machame
Village was selected for study because was among of village having many with
idea concerning tourism activities which enabled ensuring validity of data.
3.4 Population, Sample and Sampling Strategies
3.4.1 Population
The
population of this study involved villagers in Machame. The target populations
of villagers in Machame area were used to select sample size.
3.4.2 Sample Size
In this study 100 villagers in Machame area were sampled using Fisher et al., (1991) for large populations (Exceeding or equal to 10 000) this sample was selected using the formula indicated below
Where:
•
n = is the sample size required;
•
Z = Standard
normal deviation, set at 1.96 (or 2) corresponding to 95% confidence level;
•
P = Is % of population estimated to have a particular
characteristics if not known use 50%;
•
q = 1-P;
•
d/e = degree of
accuracy desired, set at 0.1 or 0.02
n = (1.962 x 0.5 x 0.5)
(0.25)
= 400 respondents.
3.4.3 Sampling Techniques
This
study used simple random sampling in gathering of data from study area. Simple
random sampling refers to that method of sample selection which gives each
member or item an equal opportunity of being picked up and each item in the
entire population has an equal chance of being included in the sample (Kothari,
2011). The study identified the target population and then picked up
respondents that represented the entire population of the study. In this case,
the study had chosen this technique because it eliminates the systematic bias
and gives respondents equal chance of being selected.
3.5 Data and Data Collection
3.5.1 Types of data
In this study,
both primary and secondary data were collected based on study objectives. For
the first objective, different tourist
activities carried out in Machame village were identified such as hand craft,
tour operator, selling fruits, hotel activities and entertainment. Those data
were obtained from villagers. For the second objective, contributions of tourism sector in
Machame Village were identified from both villagers and documents obtained in
KINAPA.
For the third
objective, challenges facing tourism sector in Machame Village such as
environmental challenges cultural pollution, immoral behaviors, and exclusive
of local people from access to resource were obtained from the villagers. For the forth objective, means of strengthening
tourism sector in Machame such as maintaining local culture, motivating
domestic tourism and improving infrastructures were obtained from the villagers and KINAPA.
3.5.2 Sources of data
Primary data collection is
essential, when researcher cannot collect right information from only from secondary
source. Primary
data were obtained from selected respondents (villagers) through questionnaires
and interview. Secondary
data were obtained from already published materials and documents, such as
programmed learning text which tells about tourism sector in Machame and
Tanzania in general. These sources enabled the researcher to acquire
information’s that enabled him to accomplish the research report well as
needed.
3.5.3 Data Collection Techniques
Data collection techniques involved a survey
technique, documentary review, key informant interview and focus
group discussion.
3.6 Data
Analysis
The
study collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data
includes data which were quantified and verified, and amenable to statistical
manipulation. These data were coded, organized, processed and converted into
tables, by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Computer
Software. Qualitative data cannot be expressed as a number. It includes
virtually any information that can be captured and not numerical in nature. Nominal
data, relating to social-economic characteristics were categorized based on the
specific scales, numbers and frequencies. The ordinal data were simply placed
into categories based on some common trait and then ranged accordingly from
lowest to highest.
4.0 FINDINGS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The majority of respondents indicated that tourism was supporting
other livelihood activities rather than conflicting with them. Several economic
activities are practiced in the area of study with varying on it. Thus apart
from sale/provision of tourist related products such as tour operation, curio
shops and handcraft, supply and sale of agricultural products are also
important, there are differences in the intensity/ importance of participation
in the different economic activities amongst the area of study. The main
objective of this study was to analyze the direct and indirect livelihood impacts
from tourism and their implications for poverty alleviation. The sector being
the fastest growing sector in Tanzania, the study intended to investigate the contributions
and costs of tourism on the society in general and on the poor in particular.
In order to achieve this objective the study designed the questions related to
generation of foreign exchange and public revenues, employment, incomes,
accessibility to assets and basic needs and their effects on the poor, and the
linkages of tourism to the local economy. Issues affecting
participation/non-participation in tourism and the way respondents perceived
tourism were examined.
The study identified that, tourism contributes significantly
to the national economy through employment generation, foreign exchange
earnings and public revenues. However, the sector is sensitive to global
instability caused by phenomena such as terrorism and/or war. So tourism is an
important economic activity in the areas of study particularly in activities
such as tour operation, curio shops and handcraft sales. However, agricultural
activities are also practiced. Employment opportunities for the locals are observed
to be in the low cadres with low skills and remuneration. Furthermore Cultural
tourism is emerging as an important tourist attraction with no significant
investment requirements.
Machame the majority have low education and lack of capital
and so tourism need to be encouraged in order to contribute towards poverty
alleviation. Tourism in Machame is significant on both direct and indirect
employment opportunities. Directly, it is observed that there was substantial employment
generation in hotels and so tourism ensure poverty alleviation. Machame opportunities
for the locals were mainly observed to be in the lower cadres with low
educational/skills requirements and low pay.
There were observable general pattern of increasing
contribution of incomes from tourism to villagers and there is a general
increase in the number of people receiving incomes from tourist related activities.
Given the fact or the ‘common norm’ that always it is difficult to get income
data from individuals/villagers, the increase in number may be interpreted as a
reflection of increasing opportunities for getting incomes from tourist
activities. Moreover, the results reveal significant direct and indirect
employment opportunities. Those opportunities provide important sources of
incomes to the villagers.
Cultural tourism is emerging as an important tourist
activity especially in Moshi and Machame. Given that this type of activity does
not require specialized skills and the incomes accrues directly to the
performer, it should be viewed positively as a way of reducing poverty in rural
areas. As since about 82 percent of those interviewed perceived
tourism to be complementing as opposed to only 3 percent who thought that
tourism was conflicting other economic activities. However, at times there are
competitions or conflicts in the use of resources between tourist activities
and other/social economic activities.
Tourism in Machame has strong backward linkages to sectors and
activities that most poor people participate in. The linkages thus create
opportunities for locals to benefit and alleviate poverty. Total number of
participation in various activities was 1050 from which 367 was deducted to
account for the young, students and inactive.
There are some unquantifiable negative impacts of tourism
that may act against the positive impact on poverty alleviation. These include,
among other things, loss of access to resources, environmental degradation,
distortion of traditional culture and immoral behavior.
Tourism in Machame has the potential to have both forward
and backward linkages to become a pro-poor growth sector. However, there are
times when tourism development competes with other activities (normally more
familiar to local people) in the use of resources available. Competition may
result in the diminishing of resources such as land, water, wood. Depending on
the magnitude of the dependency on these resources, the quality of life may as
well be affected in the same way (most probably negatively) as the pressure on
those resources increase.
Based on conclusion the following recommendations are
proposed.
·
There
should be an increase to locals perceive tourism to be important and that it
generally complements and supports rather than conflicting other economic
activities.
·
Tourism
sector should be advanced so that it contributes substantially to increased
asset ownership and basic needs or livelihoods requirements of the villagers.
·
Tourism
should be made strong linkages to other sectors both at national level and at
local areas of the study.
·
Tourism
should be made better for development as it plays an important role towards poverty
alleviation.
For more
information visit www.africanaturaltours.com
Comments
Post a Comment