Journal of Tourism & Hospitality
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0269
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2167-0269
+44 1300 500008
Research Article - (2021)Volume 10, Issue 4
It has been observed that tourism enhances the growth of the economics of developing nations because the industry relies on natural and cultural resources to attract tourists. Tourism can facilitate the development of infrastructure to tourist destinations located in rural areas, which lack amenities, thereby enhancing the quality of life of the community and its residents. Previous studies across the world have highlighted the relationship between tourism, community development and resident satisfaction. In Nigeria, this relationship has not been widely investigated as a subject of tourism research. Therefore, the study investigates the tourism impact on the quality of life of the host community in Idanre. The study employed the use of case study research design using qualitative (interview) and quantitative (questionnaire) methods. The population of the study comprises the residents of Idanre. 200 respondents were selected through simple random sampling techniques while the collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The results are presented in table, chart, figure and plate. The findings reveal that cultural festivals celebrated at Idanre hill and the attraction site have positive impact on the socio-cultural and spiritual benefit (such as contributing to cultural preservation and boosting the morale of the community) which influence the quality of life of the community resident positively. Also community residents have a positive perception towards economic and environmental impacts of tourism on their living conditions (such as health status, social lifestyle and environmental condition). The hypothesis test shows that a significant relationship exist between perception of resident towards impact of tourism and the resident age distribution and involvement in tourism. In conclusion there is a significant relationship between perception of community residents about tourism impact and their age distribution and involvement in tourism business and activities which is validated by social exchange theory.
Tourism; Tourism impact; Social exchange theory
The potential backward and forward relations with many sectors of the economy of tourism industry are widely recognized as an important instrument for socio-economic growth [1]. This makes it possible to increase jobs, income, local economic growth and improve the quality of life. Nigeria is looking at tourism as a potential alternative income earner and it is assumed, as averred by Eromosele [2], that if Nigeria gets its tourism sector right, besides agriculture, tourism will increase employment. In this regard, tourism can enhance the multiplication of infrastructure to tourist destinations in rural areas, which are usually areas with no facilities and which can improve the quality of life of the community and its residents [3]. Many developing countries believe tourism can help their economies grow because the industry is a source of revenue generation and tourism products can be produced locally [4]. The focus of tourism studies has now changed from the mere economic benefits of tourism to the wider social, cultural and environmental effects of tourism on the quality of life of local residents [5]. The quality of life is the level of well-being felt by a person or group of people [6].
Tourism contributes significantly to the social life of residents by offering opportunities for social contact, personal growth and personal identity development [1]. In one way or another, tourism affects the quality of life of people in a community. Perdue et al. [7] studied how the perception of community safety by residents, shifts in job opportunities, social conditions, and community congestion affected their quality of life. Their results revealed that community safety, cultural conditions, and community engagement were the key characteristics influencing the QOL of residents. A research conducted by Kim et al. [8] suggests that the quality of life has four dimensions, namely material well-being, well-being of the environment, emotional well-being, and health and safety. The study found that the quality of life has an immense influence on material and emotional well-being.
A research by Khizindar [9] in Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, found that tourism has little effect on local residents' quality of life and satisfaction. Few studies have addressed the effect of tourism on enhancing the quality of life of residents in a community.
The purpose of tourism growth in Nigeria has generally been about generating income for the national good. In reality, most local tourist sites are operated by international tour companies, with most of their revenue repatriated to their home countries [2]. As a result, it has not been a high priority to improve the host communities, their quality of life and their satisfaction with tourism. Many local populations have been exploited of their national and natural goods. Consequently, local people, particularly when they have not benefited from the fruits of that production, have become more vocal in their opposition to the growth and activities of tourism. Previous studies across the world have highlighted the relationship between tourism, community development, and resident satisfaction. In Nigeria, these relationships have not been investigated widely as a subject of tourism research. Therefore, this study will evaluate the impact of tourism on the quality of life of the community of study residents and community satisfaction towards tourism development. It will be achieved through the following specific objectives:
• Identify the socio cultural value associated with Idanre Hill.
• Examine the perception of community residents about tourism impact on the community.
• Determine the influence of socio-economic and environmental impact of tourism on the living conditions of the community residents of a tourist destination.
• Determine the level of community satisfaction in relation to tourism impact and development in the community.
H01: The perception of residents towards the impact of tourism is not related to their age and their level of involvement in tourism activities.
Tourism is an industry which is dynamic. It creates opportunities for jobs, increases tax revenue, and encourages economic diversity. It has very distinct, positive and negative, or even mixed impacts. However, tourism should support the enhancement of the quality of life of residents from a national, regional or local planning point of view [10]. In much of the academic literature on the effects of tourism, the idea of quality of life is implicit. In two categories, the literature on tourism examined the quality of life. The first research group deals with the relationship between the activities of tourism and the quality of life of visitors. These works presume that visitors indulge in tourism activities and visit tourist sites in order to enhance their mental and physical quality of life [11]. The second work group analyzes the changes in the quality of life of local people living in tourist areas triggered by experiences with tourism [1]. The contributions that tourism brings to different aspects of the quality of life of destination residents have been discussed in some depth by tourism academics [12]. According to Constanta, tourism can improve the quality of life that takes place in a variety of ways: rest, relaxation, recreation, development of knowledge and a sense of beauty, aesthetic feeling. The quality of life is measured by well-being, life satisfaction, happiness, and the absence of sickness, according to [4,13] explored the perceptions of local residents of tourism's economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts in relation to the quality of life of the residents. The findings of the study show that the people of the city have a favorable view of tourism because they benefit from tourism businesses.
Social exchange theory
In the field of travel and tourism, social exchange theory was championed to explain the reasons why residents favor or disapprove tourism in their community on the basis of perceived benefits or costs, positive or negative perceptions, and trust [14-20]. This has been shown by Lankford et al. [21] pioneering work, which highlights the distinct factors of the Tourism impact Attitude Scale (TIAS), attitudinal support for tourism growth, and contributions to society, which have been used by Woosnam [22]. Similarly, Gursoy et al. [15] discovered that while residents who perceived gains from tourism had more positive attitudes toward tourism and hopeful views about future tourism growth, residents who perceived more costs had more negative attitudes toward tourism and pessimistic views about future tourism development in their region. A plethora of research has shown that the possible advantages of an exchange will lead to favorable attitudes toward tourism and also encourage individuals to be more receptive of negative tourism impacts [18,19,23]. In researching the quality of life relationship between tourism and the community residents, the theory of social exchange has been seen as a more suitable theoretical structure. It identified the perceptions of residents of positive and negative attitudes in relation to the socio-economic and environmental impact of tourism development [24-26]. Therefore, the study employed social exchange theory to examine how the perception of resident towards tourism contribute to their support for tourism and influence their quality of life in relation to economic, environmental and social impact of tourism (Figure 1 and 2).
Figure 1: Social exchange theory (Set) In relation to perception of residents towards tourism impact. Source: Scholtz and Slabbert (2017) [27].
Figure 2: Theoretical Framework adapted from Ap and Crompton’s Framework (1998) [24].
The study employed case-study research design which includes qualitative (questionnaire) and quantitative research method (interview). Primary data were obtained through organized fieldwork involving questionnaire administration and interviews with indigenous people, residents and migrants. The questionnaire was developed using Kim [1] quality of life indicator and model. The study employed systematic random sampling to select the street for the study while random sampling technique was used to select respondent in each street in the community. The sample size was selected using taro yamane formula.
Where,
n=Sample size (203 sample size)
N=Population size (population of the community as per census 2006 is 129,795)
e=Sampling error (Margin of error is 0.07 based on 93% confident level)
The data collected was analyzed using descriptive majorly central tendency measures which are mean, standard deviation and skewness. The decision rule used on the mean was 2.50. This means that any item with a mean score of 2.50 and above was considered positive and impact positively. While inferential statistic majorly Chi-Square was used to test the hypothesis and correlation was used to measure relationship between variables.
The Table 1 above shows the mean and standard deviation value of the perception of host community about impact of tourism. The mean of the respondent response for each question shows that most of the respondent “strongly agree or agree” that tourism increase source of income, create employment opportunities, increase level of investment, and chance to interact with different people then improve sense of pride and boost morale of the host community but they “strongly disagree or disagree” that tourism increase illegal activities, contribute to destruction of environment and increase pollution. The result reported here is consistent with previous research findings [28], it reveals that resident have a strong positive perception with regard to socio, economic and cultural impact of tourism, but negative with regard to environmental impact.
| Mean | Std. Deviation | |
|---|---|---|
| Increase source of income | 4.06 | 1.083 |
| Tourism create more employment opportunity | 3.97 | 1.032 |
| Tourism increase level of investment and entrepreneur | 3.44 | 1.344 |
| Create chances to interact with different people | 4.36 | 0.814 |
| Improve sense of pride of the resident of the community | 4.55 | 0.755 |
| Contribute to development of infrastructure and amenities | 3.59 | 1.118 |
| Increase illegal activities and congestion | 1.79 | 0.982 |
| Contribute to destruction of environment | 1.71 | 0.889 |
| Enhance environmental preservation | 3.81 | 0.849 |
| Increase level of pollution | 1.7 | 1.144 |
Table 1: Perception of Community residents about Tourism Impact.
The Table 2 shows the descriptive result of the sampled respondent living condition. The mode of the sampled population 3.13 accepted that their health status is high, 2.24 claim that their income level is low, 2.64 admitted that their change in lifestyle is high, 2.76 also claim that their social lifestyle is high. the highest frequency or response mode of the population claim their safety and security is very high, 2.36 mean of the population accepted that their level of engaging in leisure activities is very low, 3.26 said that their environmental condition is high while 2.44 agree that they material wellbeing is low.
| Living conditions | Mean | Std. Deviation |
|---|---|---|
| Health status | 3.13 | 0.718 |
| Income level | 2.24 | 0.897 |
| Change in lifestyle | 2.64 | 0.757 |
| Social lifestyle | 2.76 | 0.816 |
| Safety and security | 3.3 | 0.789 |
| Leisure activities | 2.36 | 0.951 |
| Environmental conditions | 3.26 | 0.65 |
| Material wellbeing | 2.44 | 0.761 |
Table 2: Effect of Socioeconomic and Environmental impact of Tourism on the living condition (standard of living) of the host community.
The study reveals that majority of the resident claim that their living condition in term of their health status, social lifestyle, change in lifestyle, safety and security and environmental condition is up to standard but their income level, material wellbeing and leisure activities is very low and not up to standard. The study indicate that the living condition of the community resident is high (i.e., good) and it influence their quality of life. this result support [4] study, which noted that tourism has a positive impact of the community resident quality of life through it contribution to the preservation and conservation of the environment, safety and security effect and creating avenue for residents to meet and interact with people which influence their social lifestyle and causes changes in their lifestyle (Table 3).
| Very unsatisfied | Unsatisfied | Neutral | Satisfied | Very satisfied | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your job | 6% | 14.50% | 9% | 30.50% | 40% |
| Your level of income at your current job (s) | 16% | 33.50% | 11.50% | 21% | 18% |
| Your job security | 6.50% | 11% | 11% | 45.50% | 26% |
| The cost of basic necessities such as food, clothing etc. | 40% | 38% | 6% | 10.50% | 5% |
| Social lifestyle | 5.50% | 20% | 3.50% | 61.50% | 9.50% |
| Safety and security in your community | 4.50% | 11.50% | 3% | 46% | 35.50% |
| The level of accident and crime rate in your community | 17.50% | 26% | 7.50% | 40.50% | 8.50% |
| The environmental condition (air, water) in your community | 3.50% | 5.50% | 5.00% | 61.50% | 24.50% |
| The facilities and amenities you get in the community | 44.50% | 38% | 3% | 10.50% | 4% |
| The services you get such as transportation, health etc. | 18% | 23.50% | 8% | 44% | 6.50% |
| Your spare time | 11% | 30.50% | 13% | 39.50% | 6% |
| Leisure activities in your community | 13% | 38.50% | 5% | 35% | 8.50% |
| Cultural activities and benefit you get and engaged in. | 26% | 16% | 4% | 24.50% | 29.50% |
Table 3: Community resident satisfaction with various living condition.
The result of the findings shows that the community resident are satisfied with their job, job security, social lifestyle, safety and security, environmental conditions, cultural activities and other services they got. But the residents indicate their un-satisfaction with some of the quality of life indicator with regards to their income level, the cost of basic necessities, availability of facilities and amenities, leisure activities. The resulted is related to previous study by [1,29] which examine the life satisfaction of host community with a particular life domain such as material wellbeing, community wellbeing, health and safety wellbeing etc. Their study shows that the host community are satisfied with health and safety wellbeing (Table 4).
| Value | Df | Asymptotic significance (2-sided) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearson chi-square | 680.292a | 400 | 0 |
| N of valid cases | 200 |
Table 4: Chi-square tests.
Pearson chi-square was used for the testing of hypothesis. The result shows that the chi-square value for the significant relationship is 680.292 with a degree of freedom of 400 and the significant level is 0.00. Since the significant level is less than 0.005 (P ≥ 0.05), this implies that significant relationship exist between perception of community resident about impact of tourism and their age distribution and level of involvement in tourism business. Hence the null hypothesis (H01) which state that “The perception of resident towards of tourism is not relatively significant to their age distribution and their level of involvement in tourism businesses” is consequently rejected.
Based on the data collected from the interview, it was gathered that the socio cultural and spiritual value associated with Idanre Hill are mostly on the festivals celebrated on the hill. It was said that eight (8) festivals are celebrated in Idanre of which three (3) of the festivals are celebrated on the mountain, they are Orosun Festival, Olofin Festival and Yam Festival. The respondents said that out of all the festivals the most important one that has great socio cultural benefit is Orosun festival. It was said by the community that the Orosun festivals symbolized the celebration of womanhood and fertility which is epitomized in Orosun. The community resident claims that all the cultural and spiritual value of Idanre hill contribute positively to their quality of life in term of their community wellbeing and economic wellbeing. The study also reveals tourism activities in the community have a positive impact on their cultural value such as boosting the morale of the community, inducing the sense of pride in resident.
Concerning the perception of the resident about tourism impact. It was found out that majority of the resident have a strong positive perception about economic impact and sociocultural impact of tourism. But the resident negative perception about the environmental impact of tourism were strong. The findings were consistent with the previous findings about the perception of tourism impact in relation to quality of life [1,28]. Their study indicated that the perception of community resident about impact of tourism are strong and this have great influence about their quality of life. Perdue, Long and Kang [7] studied how residents’ perception of community safety, community involvement, local political influence, and changes in job opportunities, social environment, and community congestion influenced their quality of life in the community. The result of the study reveals that there is a strong positive significant relationship between perception of community resident about impact of tourism and their demographic characteristics. This was tested by using hypothesis one, the chi square result shows that the significant level is 0.00 (i.e., P ≥ 0.05) which indicate that significant difference exist between the two variables.
Furthermore, the result shows that socio-economic impact of tourism have a positive influence on the quality of life (health status, change in lifestyle, social lifestyle, environmental conditions, safety and security) on the host community residents, but the highest percentage of the resident claim that the impact of tourism on their quality of life are not up to standard and low with regards to their income level, material wellbeing and leisure activities engaged in. The result corresponds to previous studies which indicated that material wellbeing, community wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, health and safety wellbeing influence the level of quality of life of the community resident [1,29,30]. The findings support [31,32] study, which noted that tourism have a positive impact of the community resident quality of life through it contribution to the preservation and conservation of environment, safety and security [33-36], creating an avenue for resident to meet and interact with people and visitor that influence their social lifestyle and causes changes in their lifestyle [37,38].
The study indicate that the community resident has a positive perception about impact of tourism and it effect on their quality of life most especially the residents that are involved in tourism business and who are of age that has witness a gradual change regarding the development of their community as a result of tourism. The community resident express and indicate that socio-cultural and environmental impact of tourism in the community enhance and contribute to their quality of life while the economic impact their getting from tourism as is not up to standard even though it improves their standard of living in one way or the other through daily income and facilities availabilities. The residents are unsatisfied with the impact of tourism on their quality of life despite the little benefit they got from tourism. The study validates Social Exchange Theory (SET) as a consideration for the perception of community residents about impact of tourism. This is supported by the fact that there is positive relationship between the perception of community resident about impact tourism and their age and involvement in tourism business. This indicates that those who have gotten one benefit or the other through tourism activities in their community have positive perception about tourism impact.
As it was discovered during the study that community resident prohibited from selling goods and doing business around the site (tourist attraction). Management of the tourist attraction should provide easy access for the community resident to carry out their economic activities around the site Also, community should be involved in the tourism development process and an integrated approach towards tourism by involving members of the community should be implement by management and government. More so, Tourism organization and investor should provide adequate facilities and amenities within the site (Idanre Hill) so as to attract more tourists into the community in order to boost the economic activities within the community. Future research is needed to investigate how tourism impact affects residents’ quality of life in different types of communities with natural tourist attraction. Furthermore, future research should examine the effect of patronage on the economic activities and cultural changes within the community. Future quantitative and qualitative research (work) is needed to examine the effect of tourism development on the quality of life of the host community residents and the in-flux of tourist to the host community.
Citation: Agboola M, Olowo RO, Kevin-Israel OC (2021) Evaluation of Impact of Tourism on the Quality of Life of the Host Community Resident in Idanre, Ondo State Nigeria. J Tourism Hospit. 10:469.
Received: 10-May-2021 Accepted: 24-May-2021 Published: 31-May-2021 , DOI: 10.35248/2167-0269.21.10.469
Copyright: © 2021 Agboola M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.