Residents’ Perception of Ecotourism Impact in Ekiti State: A Case Study of Ikogosi Warm Spring Residents’ Perception of Ecotourism Impact in Ekiti State: A Case Study of Ikogosi Warm Spring

Abstract

The perception of Ikogosi Ekiti community residents to the impact of Ikogosi Warm Spring for ecotourism development was studied. Data obtained with semi-structured questionnaire on 150 respondents randomly selected in the community were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages. Majority (90.7%) of the respondents were indigenes of Ikogosi, of which 35.3% was between 31 and 40 years old. Most (70.8%) respondents agreed that government (70.8%) and the tourism staffs (19.8%) whose larger percentage were non-natives benefited most from the Warm Spring. Similarly, 64.0% of the respondents agreed that tourism development has brought some developmental changes to the community as well as positive sociocultural impacts but was small and at a slow rate. Furthermore, 90.6% of respondents agreed that protection of the natural environment for tourism will protect the continuity of plant and animal in their natural habitats. Some respondents (70%) believed that tourism prevents the local people’s access to the natural resources. Therefore, despite the benefits of ecotourism development in Ikogosi Warm Spring to the Ikogosi-Ekiti community, these unequally distributed benefits have in advertently influenced their perceptions of ecotourism. Government should, therefore, create enabling environment to accommodate the natives in the day-to-day running of the ecotourism center and also provides incentives for the indigenes of the community in the form of scholarships for school pupils and vocational training to the youth.