Marketing the Tourist Potentials in Ondo State, Nigeria for Effective Development

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the tourism potentials of Ondo State and make a case for the marketing and development of the State. Stratified sampling method was used to select the surveyed tourist centres among the identified tourism potentials in the state, while random sampling was adopted to collect data and information from tourists and non-tourists at the visited tourist centres. The results show that lack of interest in tourism, low disposable income and the inability of people to know the tourist sites are factors limiting the tourism participation in Ondo State, as revealed by the data collected. The impacts of tourism potentials in the study area included boosting of income, employment and business. The study concludes that tourism participation doesn’t depend wholly on the level of income. There are many challenges facing the sector in the study area. Some of which are lack of accommodation, lack of awareness, inadequate water supply, lack of adequate support by both Local and State governments to the tourist centres. The study recommends proper funding of the tourist centres by the state government and supports from the federal government, as well as appropriate packaging and marketing of the potentials of the tourist centres to meet international standards.

Keywords: Tourism, marketing, tourism potentials, and development.