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Local Community Involvement and Participation in Avitourism: A Case of Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kenya

Received: 30 July 2022     Accepted: 25 August 2022     Published: 31 August 2022
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Abstract

Avitourism in the Kenyan Coast has received little research attention. This study examined issues relating to the level of local community involvement in avitourism in Arabuko Sokoke forest in Kilifi County. An adapted community involvement framework was used to assess community involvement with other stakeholders in relation to avitourism activities and programs by collecting the views of both the local community and other external avitourism stakeholders. Results indicate that although the community is willing to participate in avitourism, lack of knowledge, limited economic resources and the poor negotiation skills of local tour guides has dis-empowered them from maximally benefiting from their guiding services. Furthermore, collaboration and partnership among the different key avitourism stakeholders had brought positive development results on the prospects of avitourism growth in Arabuko Sokoke forest. Limited avitourism funding was noted to be a major challenge, however, safety and security of avitourism projects was adequately guaranteed. Both state agencies and the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have greatly supported the community in avitourism through capacity building and funding with little contribution from the county government of Kilifi. For the success and growth of avitourism in the study area, conservation and marketing of Arabuko Sokoke forest as an avitourism destination need to be up scaled and the local community need to be assisted in capacity building, marketing, negotiation skills, training and funding as well as awareness creation, while the county government of Kilifi should play its rightful roles.

Published in International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management (Volume 6, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11
Page(s) 24-30
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Avitourism, Dis-empowered, Guiding, Involvement, Arabuko Sokoke Forest

References
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[12] Glowinski, S. L. (2005). Bird watching ecotourism and economic development. A review of the evidence appl. Res. Eco. Dev. 5, 65-77.
[13] Green, R. & Jones D. N. (2010). Practices, Needs and Attitudes of bird watching tourismin Australia. CRC. For |Sustainable Tourism Brisbane: Griffith University.
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[18] Kiss, A. (2004). Is community based ecotourism a good use of biodiversity conservation fund? Trends in ecology and evolution 19. 232-237.
[19] Kenya Wildlife Service (2013). Arabuko Sokoke Forest Elephant conservation Action Plan (2013 – 2023).
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[22] Newsome, D. (2005). Enhancing the avitourism potential of the Boondall Wetlands, Queensland. In Western Australian Section, Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre Industry Forum, 14 October, Perth, Western Australia.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Koki Nyongesa Jairus, Pepela Anthony, Wamukota Andrew, Kidere Flaura. (2022). Local Community Involvement and Participation in Avitourism: A Case of Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kenya. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 6(2), 24-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11

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    ACS Style

    Koki Nyongesa Jairus; Pepela Anthony; Wamukota Andrew; Kidere Flaura. Local Community Involvement and Participation in Avitourism: A Case of Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kenya. Int. J. Hosp. Tour. Manag. 2022, 6(2), 24-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11

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    AMA Style

    Koki Nyongesa Jairus, Pepela Anthony, Wamukota Andrew, Kidere Flaura. Local Community Involvement and Participation in Avitourism: A Case of Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kenya. Int J Hosp Tour Manag. 2022;6(2):24-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11,
      author = {Koki Nyongesa Jairus and Pepela Anthony and Wamukota Andrew and Kidere Flaura},
      title = {Local Community Involvement and Participation in Avitourism: A Case of Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kenya},
      journal = {International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management},
      volume = {6},
      number = {2},
      pages = {24-30},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijhtm.20220602.11},
      abstract = {Avitourism in the Kenyan Coast has received little research attention. This study examined issues relating to the level of local community involvement in avitourism in Arabuko Sokoke forest in Kilifi County. An adapted community involvement framework was used to assess community involvement with other stakeholders in relation to avitourism activities and programs by collecting the views of both the local community and other external avitourism stakeholders. Results indicate that although the community is willing to participate in avitourism, lack of knowledge, limited economic resources and the poor negotiation skills of local tour guides has dis-empowered them from maximally benefiting from their guiding services. Furthermore, collaboration and partnership among the different key avitourism stakeholders had brought positive development results on the prospects of avitourism growth in Arabuko Sokoke forest. Limited avitourism funding was noted to be a major challenge, however, safety and security of avitourism projects was adequately guaranteed. Both state agencies and the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have greatly supported the community in avitourism through capacity building and funding with little contribution from the county government of Kilifi. For the success and growth of avitourism in the study area, conservation and marketing of Arabuko Sokoke forest as an avitourism destination need to be up scaled and the local community need to be assisted in capacity building, marketing, negotiation skills, training and funding as well as awareness creation, while the county government of Kilifi should play its rightful roles.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Local Community Involvement and Participation in Avitourism: A Case of Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kenya
    AU  - Koki Nyongesa Jairus
    AU  - Pepela Anthony
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    T2  - International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management
    JF  - International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management
    JO  - International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management
    SP  - 24
    EP  - 30
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-1800
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220602.11
    AB  - Avitourism in the Kenyan Coast has received little research attention. This study examined issues relating to the level of local community involvement in avitourism in Arabuko Sokoke forest in Kilifi County. An adapted community involvement framework was used to assess community involvement with other stakeholders in relation to avitourism activities and programs by collecting the views of both the local community and other external avitourism stakeholders. Results indicate that although the community is willing to participate in avitourism, lack of knowledge, limited economic resources and the poor negotiation skills of local tour guides has dis-empowered them from maximally benefiting from their guiding services. Furthermore, collaboration and partnership among the different key avitourism stakeholders had brought positive development results on the prospects of avitourism growth in Arabuko Sokoke forest. Limited avitourism funding was noted to be a major challenge, however, safety and security of avitourism projects was adequately guaranteed. Both state agencies and the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have greatly supported the community in avitourism through capacity building and funding with little contribution from the county government of Kilifi. For the success and growth of avitourism in the study area, conservation and marketing of Arabuko Sokoke forest as an avitourism destination need to be up scaled and the local community need to be assisted in capacity building, marketing, negotiation skills, training and funding as well as awareness creation, while the county government of Kilifi should play its rightful roles.
    VL  - 6
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Author Information
  • Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya

  • Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya

  • Department of Environmental Studies and Community Development, Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya

  • Department of Business and Economics, Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya

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