Geographical Distribution of Tourism Resources in Iseyin Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Tourism development has been described as one of the fastest growing industries in the world. With the quest of Oyo state government for alternative sources of revenue generation, there is the need for inventory of tourism resources in the state. This paper therefore provides scenic view of geographical patterns of tourism resources in Iseyin Local Government Area, Oyo state, Nigeria. The paper mainly depended on the review of literature on tourism development and policy. The analysis showed that tourism attractions/sites are spatially distributed in the local government area with Iseyin and Ado-Awaye axis more endowed than other parts of the local government area. Most of the tourism resources are naturally made like the Suspended Lake, Ishage Rock, Agbomofunyake Depression, Iya-Alaro Lake, Elephant Tree, the Elders’ Foot Prints, Ikere Gorge Dam among others. Others such as Aso-Oke Festival and Maje Kankan Shrine are man-made (socio-cultural heritage) phenomena. Despite these huge tourism resources, defective tourism development policy reflecting in inadequate funding, dearth of infrastructural facilities especially poor road network to the sites and inadequate information about the tourism sites hinder the government revenue drive accruable from tourism development. There is no doubt that with effective policy, adequate funding, infrastructural facilities and effective marketing strategy, the tourism facilities in the area can improve the socio-economic development of the people in the area and improve the revenue drive of the government