Contribution of Rural Tourism Initiatives to Community Livelihoods in the Mara Triangle, Kenya

Abstract

Rural tourism promotes the local economy, socio-cultural changes and life style of the people residing around the tourist locations. Rural tourism in the Mara triangle has been in existence since the establishment of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) in 1961 although few studies have been done on its contribution to the local community livelihoods. Hence, this study was conducted in the Mara Triangle to establish community perspectives of the contribution of rural tourism initiatives to the local community’s capital assets. Specifically, the study examined the contribution of rural tourism initiatives to financial, social, natural and physical capital assets of the community living in Mara Triangle. Both descriptive and explanatory research designs were used. Primary data were collected through the use of questionnaires and focus group discussions. The target population comprised of Mara conservancy staff, the staff of the tented camps i.e. Kichwa Tembo, Mara West and Little Governors and the local people living adjacent to the park up to 3 km away from the reserve boundary. A sample of 100 respondents was randomly selected for the survey and 18 respondents were purposively selected for focus group discussions. Three (3) focus group discussions, each comprising of 6 respondents were held while quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and multiple regression and qualitative data was analyzed by the use of content analysis. The study findings revealed that rural tourism initiatives have significant positive contribution to financial capital asset (P= 0.0000), natural capital (P= 0.0002), physical capital (P=0.0000) and social capital assets (P= 0.0049), The findings further showed that rural tourism initiatives contributes to direct employment of the local community (Mean= 3.80 ± 0.10 ), construction of schools (Mean= 3.84 ± 0.12 ), community empowerment (Mean= 3.92 ± 0.13 ); and conservation of natural resources (Mean= 3.70 ± 0.12 ). The study concludes that rural tourism initiatives contribute significantly to all the elements of capital assets of the local community. However, to sustain the contribution of rural tourism initiatives to the local community capital assets, there is need to promote cultural tours and community-based projects, improve on the products and service offered in the cultural manyattas among others and step up the fight against charcoal burning.