Community Development and Tourism: A Socio-economic Analysis of Tourism Impacts in Bauchi

Abstract

Community development and tourism have been functioning as amongst global perfect merge for economic and general development of communities. Tourism over the years has distinguished itself as one of the major tools for income generation and poverty alleviation in both rural and urban areas in developing nations like Nigeria. Participation in tourism-related economic activities contributes immensely in the community development of localities or places. Hence, the central aim of community development is to positively affect lives and standard of living of a people. Localities with equitable tourism potentials stand a better chance in maximizing the contributions of tourism to their economic lives by actively initiating and participating in various tourism businesses; small and large scale businesses. This paper surveyed Bauchi town in Nigeria, with the above premise in mind and ended up studying the economic impacts of tourism on community development in Bauchi, degree of participation by the community and the role of the community towards tourism development in the area. At the end, it was discovered that tourism related businesses dominates economic related businesses in the area, virtually all social classes of people in Bauchi participate in one or more tourism-related businesses and finally, active participation of the community aid the development and sustenance of tourism in the area.

Keywords: Community Development, Tourism, Economy, Impact.