Assessing Visitors’ Leisure Time and Constraints to Tourism Resort Utilization in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The rate of visitors’ inflow in Calabar especially during tourism events has necessitated tourism resort development in Calabar. This paper assesses the visitor leisure time and constraints to tourism resort utilization. Seven hundred and forty-eight copies of questionnaire were distributed to visitors in the various tourism resorts. The questionnaire and checklist were the methods used in data collection. One hypothesis was stated which try to examine whether or not the utilization of tourism resorts is depended on the amount of leisure available to visitors in the area The stated hypothesis was tested using chi-square. The research findings show that several facilities that are utilized by visitors exist in the various tourism resorts. It was noticed that majority of the visitors allocated for themselves one to three hours as their leisure time in the resort. The data obtained shows that evenings were the major daily visiting time that visitors allocate for visiting the tourism resorts. The data collected shows that low patronage and high taxation were the major constraints faced by management of the tourism resorts, while obsolete facilities and poor maintenance of facilities were the observed visitors’ constraints in various resorts in the area. However, effective measures must be put in place by the stakeholders that are involved in the management of the resorts so as to ensure adequate utilization of the tourism resorts in the area.