Assessing the Relationship Between Infrastructural Development and Tourism Destination Competitiveness: Evidence from Nigeria (Published)
The travel and tourism industry is considered one of the growth sectors of the Nigerian economy. As a result, the government is looking to diversify the economy that is currently dependent on crude oil by harnessing the tourism potential in the country. That said, many factors lead to tourism development and destination competitiveness. One such factor is infrastructural development. This study, therefore, focuses on the effect of infrastructural development on destination competitiveness using Nigeria as a case study. The study made use of secondary data from various publications of the World Bank, World Economic Forum and United Nations World Tourism Organisation. Regression analysis was applied to assess the effect of infrastructure on international tourist arrivals, while Pearson Correlation was applied to understand the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The findings show that various forms of infrastructural development in Nigeria had negative effects on the number of international tourists visiting the country. Visitors expect easy access to destinations either by road, air or sea, as well as information communication technology. When a country lacks infrastructure, it affects the number of visitors arriving in the country negatively. The study concludes that the findings can contribute to the limited literature on destination competitiveness and help to guide policymaking in the future.
Keywords: Infrastructure, Nigeria, Tourism, destination competitiveness
Social and infrastructural factors affecting tourist choice of destination in Delta State (Published)
The study: “social and infrastructural factors affecting tourist choice of destination in Delta State” was carried out in Gordon Hotel Resort, Abraka and source of River Ethiope, Umuaja in Delta State. It investigated the social and infrastructural indicators available in the host communities. The research design was a critical survey method. For data collection, the use of a simple random sampling technique gave a sample of 144 respondents. A semi-structured questionnaire was engaged to gather information from respondents. Data analyses were done by building the data into percentage, frequency tables, means standard deviation and Z-test were applied. Important findings revealed that male respondents (68%) were more than female with grater respondents (83%) who attained educational status of National Diplomat and above. Respondents majority (71%) were 30 years and above. The most significant social factors affecting tourism were friendly reception (mean = 3.32) and security and safety (mean = 3.31). While, the infrastructural factors in tourism dynamics were mostly good destination accessibility (means = 3.10) and mode of transport service (mean = 2.83). The study implied that well located tourism destination with good infrastructure and friendly environment inspires agricultural business set up. The study concluded that social and infrastructural factors contributed to tourists’ choice of desirable destination in the State. It was recommended that recreational facilities should be provided for maximum comfort.
Keywords: Choice, Infrastructure, Social, Tourist, destination
Economic Impact of Tourism in Jammuand Kashmir (Published)
Jammu and Kashmir State has a tremendous potential to become a major global tourist destination. Importance of tourism in J&K economy is known for decades now and its role in economic development has been an area of great interest from policy perspective. To understand the economic impact of tourism in the J&K state, present paper uses secondary sources of data and tries to examine various parameters of economic development such as tourist inflow, employment generation, State Gross Domestic Product, development of infrastructure and regional development. We found apart from agriculture sector, tourism sector is the most popular source of income and employment generation for the state economy.
Keywords: Employment, Infrastructure, Regional Development., Revenue, Tourism, Tourist Inflow