Community perceptions towards the impacts of ecotourism development in the central highlands of Ethiopia: the case of Lake Wanchi and its adjacent landscapes

Abstract

Scientific studies harmonizing biodiversity conservation, ecotourism development, and local livelihoods in areas of natural endowments have significant importance in the welfare of society. The objective of this study was to investigate the local community's perception of the impacts of the Wanchi Ecotourism Association (WETA) and test the relationship between these perceptions and some socio-demographic predictor variables. Data was collected using household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field observations, and document analysis. Simple statistical analysis, such as descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, multiple response sets, and chi-square tests were used to analyze the socio-demographic characteristics and opinions on ecotourism development. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze the local community's perceptions towards the impacts of ecotourism using socio-demographic variables as predictors of the community responsiveness. The non-quantifiable information was analyzed using qualitative descriptions. There was enough evidence for the high resident's support for ecotourism development and perceptions of its positive impacts, while there was limited community participation, less economic benefit, and inequitable sharing of the revenues generated from WETA. The examination in the distribution of observed and expected perception responses on the impacts of ecotourism showed statistically significant differences (x2 = 110.833, df = 3, P = 0.000). The multinomial logistic regression revealed that the variables of educational level, duration of stay in the study landscape, ecotourism benefit, and place of residence from the ecotourism attraction center have a significant association with respondents' perception toward impacts of ecotourism. The study supported the social exchange theory, in that those who benefited from ecotourism viewed it as a development preference, and so are more likely to have positive attitudes concerning ecotourism.