Socio–economic Determinants of Local Tourism Industry Development in Tanzania: A Case of Tarangire National Park, Arusha Region

Abstract

This study was undertaken in Tarangire national park northern Tanzania looking on local tourism development as literatures shows domestic visitors is growing slowly by 20.4% in 2022 from 14.1% on 2019 comparing to international visitors which rose by 81.9% in 2022 from 40.4% in 2019 visiting various tourist destinations in Tanzania. Therefore, the study aimed to examine the perception of local community on local tourism industry and investigating the socio-economic determinants of local tourism development in order to inform the best approaches to be used as a catalyst for local tourism development in Tanzania. The study adopted a mixed research design where quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used. Simple random and purposive sampling was used to select respondents for the study through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and document review as methods used to collect data. A total of 134 respondents were involved in the study. Logistic regression was used to make analytical statistics for quantitative findings while content analysis was used for qualitative data. The findings revealed that, local visitors had a positive perception on visiting the tourist destinations of the country during their holidays for refreshment and learning new experiences on local tourism activities. The study revealed that, three out of eight socio-economic determinants which are income of the local tourist, promotion of tourist destination and accessibility of the tourist destinations are statistically significant at P< 0.05 with 95% confidence levels. Based on the findings, this study concludes that the will of local community to visit national parks is hindered by low income, low promotion coverage and poor park accessibility. Therefore, for domestic tourism to grow, the study recommends the authority to improve accessibilities whereby local tourist can get in using their own means of transport as to reduce cost of transport (hiring a tour guide truck). Also, Tanzania Tourist Board and other government agencies should strengthen its marketing strategies and dissemination of appropriate information through social Medias. Finally, the tourism stakeholders should create a mechanism that brings affordable price on tourism services especially accommodation and transport in tourist destinations of the country.