Eco-Tourism and Local Residents of Gabaldon Nueva Ecija, Philippines: An Ethnographic Evaluation

Abstract

This study focused on the condition of Eco- tourism in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, Philippines as being perceived by the local residents. It attempted to identify the qualities of Gabaldon Nueva Ecija as an eco-tourist destination; the over-all rating of the local residents in terms of tourism components; the perceived impacts of tourism to local residents among the economic, the socio-cultural and environment; the level of community awareness; and the common problems encountered by the tourists. The participants of the study were chosen using a purposive random sampling, a total of 88 respondents were utilized in this study i.e. eight respondents for each ten barangays identified wherein, tourist destinations are located. Furthermore, respondents of the study were chosen by the following criteria: (1) barangay officials who were responsible in overseeing the tourist spot as well as assisting in the tourist arrival; (2) resort employees; (3) resort owners; (4) residents who reside nearby/in the tourist destination. Upon identifying the respondents, a face to face interview and observation were conducted in which the researcher uncovered trends in thoughts and opinions and dove deeper into the perception of local residents who only had a minimal knowledge about tourism. After the said procedure, questionnaires were disseminated which contained 7 parts: (1) concerned with the profile of the respondents; (2) respondent’s perception on the qualities of Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija to be considered as an eco-tourist destination; (3) the over-all rating of the local residents to different resorts and natural parks in terms of tourism component; (4) the impact of tourism to local residents in terms of economic, socio-cultural, and environmental aspects; (5) the level of community awareness; (6) the common problems encountered by the tourists; and (7) the different policies, procedures and guidelines that can be recommended to attain sustainable tourism based on the local residents’ perspectives. Frequency Distribution and Percentage; Weighted Mean and Ranking were used as a Statistical Treatment of data. The study came up with the following findings: In terms of qualities, the item “offers different recreational facilities such as the presence of resorts and natural tourist attractions” got the highest rank with a verbal interpretation of “Good” from the total response of the respondents. They perceived Gabaldon (Summer Capital of Nueva Ecija) as good in terms of climate; serves as home to NEUST Gabaldon Campus which offers farm tourism ambiance and scenic landscape, cultures and festival. Also, the respondents rated the item “positive socio-cultural and economic impacts of eco-tourism” as “Strongly Agree” while they also agreed on the negative impacts of it. On both positive and negative environmental impacts of eco-tourism, the respondents also answered “Agree” on those items. Furthermore, on the identified problems met by the tourists, the items obtained an over-all verbal interpretation of “Agree”. To sum it all, the study shows that the respondents were aware about the tourism of the municipality. The researcher found out that if the LGU will prioritize tourism more, the economic aspect of the area will grow because of the multiplier effects of tourism. In totality, the researcher fully recommends that, the LGU may strengthen the tourism of the municipality by adopting a Tourism Destination Management to achieve sustainable and competitive results.