ACoST - 2014 (Sustainability in Tourism)

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11071/4927

Theme: Sustainability in Tourism
Venue: Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya
Dates: 23/10/2014 - 24/10/2014

Conference Topics

Community and Ecotourism entrepreneurship
Ecotourism and Biodiversity conservation
Hospitality and Tour operations for sustainable tourism
Wildlife legislation and sustainable tourism
Education for sustainable development

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 29

Assessing the sustainability of the Campi ya Kanzi Maasai wildlife conservation trust model ‘wildlife pays’ on Kuku group ranch
(Strathmore University, 2014) Mwenesi, Matayo
„Wildlife Pays‟ is a wildlife compensation model funded by tourism revenue at Campi ya Kanzi (resident eco-lodge) in partnership with the local community of Kuku Group Ranch under the “Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.” An assessment of the impact and sustainability of the program in conservation of wildlife explored the determinants of wildlife compensation, examined trends and made projections as to whether changes in variables have the potential to compromise the continuity of “Wildlife Pays”. Findings indicate that depredation peaks in the second half of the year when it is dry, approximately 90% of incidents occur when herding, and the high number of livestock killed in the dry season are attributed to an increased vulnerability when herders venture far from their villages with emaciated livestock in search of pasture. Given the annual compensation pattern, there is also a higher peak every second year. The average amount of money paid in compensation annually shows a slight positive trend attributed to rising value of livestock, while the compensation pattern shows a diminishing oscillation suggesting that the scheme is progressively becoming stable. The strict conditions put in place to qualify for maximum compensation encourage better constructed homesteads, improved herding methods and deters community members from hunting and retaliation, thus having a positive impact on wildlife populations and managing human-wildlife conflict.
Challenges of biodiversity conservation through ecotourism
(Strathmore University, 2014) Pramod, Ramteke
Over the past few decades ecotourism has emerged as one of India's fastest growing industries, thanks to its rich biological and cultural diversity and heritage. Historically, the increase of nature based and ecotourism is largely a result of the increase in awareness of the plight of the planet's diminishing biological diversity and a reaction against mass tourism and its demonstrative lack of care of conservation issues. In India integration of biodiversity conservation and tourism development has emerged as an important national objective, with strong support by government, industry and the community. Ecotourism has a potentially vital role to play in conservation by generating economic incentives for nature conservation, and a stimulus for an environmental ethic that goes beyond ecotourism. However, the central challenge of ecotourism is to develop and manage the tourism in a way which conserves its natural resource and built heritage base, and minimizes any negative environmental, societal, and cultural impacts. The greening of tourism is essential for the ecological and sociological advancement and sustainability of the industry. The applicability of tourism as a tool for biodiversity conservation and improving economic status of indigenous communities in India is discussed here.
Community and ecotourism entrepreneurship in Kenya : sustaining tourism through valuation of ecosystem services
(Strathmore University, 2014) Ndung’u, James Mutimu
Tourism is a major driver for economic growth for developing countries. In Kenya Tourism contributes for about 12 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The main tourist attractions in Kenya are nature based ranging from the unique biodiversity and wildlife coupled with local traditional cultures. Some of the lands where these occur are owned by local communities whose livelihoods also depend. There have been conflicts over management of nature based Ecotourism products and proceeds between communities and other stakeholders in the past. This has resulted into loss of biodiversity and other tourist attractions. This may be addressed by determination of tourism values through valuation of ecosystem services to inform tourism pricing and negotiations for Ecotourism concession agreements. At the ecosystem level, other communities may benefit from concession fees even though not be directly involved in hosting the tourism attraction but who indirectly may devalue the attractions. This is achieved through Payment of Ecosystem Services (PES) and Corporate Social Responsibility programs. Valuation and Payment of Ecosystem services not only brings equity amongst the actors in the tourism value chain but also maximises the output from the land potential and reduces the social and visitor footprints. They form a basis for differential Ecotourism pricing resulting to product segmentation in the tourism market. This will result into a triple bottom line where the cumulative social, ecological and economic costs of tourism are paid for in a given unit visit thus sustaining tourism nature based tourist destinations.
Community based tourism as a strategy of collaboration and partnerships in protected area management : a case Tsavo National Park, Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2014) Kariuki, Albert
Kenya relies mostly on wildlife as her major tourism product. The country has a widespread protected area (PAs) system in place with 9 to 10% of her land area presently gazetted as national parks, national reserves or forest reserves. These critical biodiversity areas are the backbone of a flourishing tourism sector. It has become increasingly clear to park managers, planners, and academics that no one stakeholder can dictate the future of conservation in these PAs. PAs management must appreciate the power of collaboration and partnerships arrangements with all stakeholders, especially the local communities who neighbour the areas. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how community based tourism has been used a strategy collaboration and partnerships in PAs management in Kenya. Conservation in Kenya is a product of the global evolution of nature conservation efforts, this was started at Yellowstone National Park in the USA in 1872, followed by Banff National Park in Canada in 1885.The oldest PA in Kenya is Nairobi National Park which was gazetted in 1945, followed by Tsavo National Park in 1948 (the study area of the paper). The paper observes that collaboration and partnerships arrangements among stakeholders have becomes a central theme in sustainable tourism development, and recommends that community based (eco) tourism can be used to bridge the gap in conservation between PAs and local communities. The challenge has and will always be; how to provide the local communities with resources, knowledge and skills to manage the said business ventures and enterprises.
Community based tourism development - a framework for Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2014) Magayu, Makie
The ostensible failure of mainstream conventional tourism has led many governments of developing countries in Africa to take up alternative means of tourism development. Community based tourism (CBT) has been advocated for as the preferred mode of tourism that will serve as a key catalyst for economic regeneration and poverty eradication. Many developing countries in Africa have recognized the importance of CBT as a panacea to tourism development challenges, providing benefits to local impoverished communities. CBT is gradually gaining momentum in Kenya, a developing country, with tourism as one of its main foreign exchange earners. However, the feasibility of CBT development in Kenya remains questionable with the major hindrances and barriers that CBT is faced with. In addition, with the growing awareness of the importance of CBT, there is a need for community based conservation models and framework guidelines in Kenya and other developing countries where high levels of bio-diversity and population growth co-exist. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a CBT framework for Kenya, based on an analysis of selected successful initiatives across Kenya. To achieve this aim, a research analysis on selected community based tourism initiatives in Kenya was undertaken in order to establish the factors that lead to the success (and failure) of CBT initiatives. The research also obtained insights on the present nature of tourism development in Kenya, through secondary data collection. The analysis revealed that successful initiatives all share similar success factors. However, there exist political, economic, social-cultural, legal and environmental challenges that pose great hindrances to these initiatives and to community based tourism as a whole. By using this analysis, a community based tourism framework was created in order to provide best practise guidelines for tourism practitioners and stakeholders wishing to engage in community based tourism development. The main conclusions drawn were that CBT is a viable means of development for developing countries. However, for CBT to fully be exploited and for local communities to benefit from it, the hindrances to CBT must be dealt with and eradicated. However, this is a long term process where a „people centred‟ approach to CBT development should be adopted aiming at sustainability and diversity as opposed to conservation alone.
Community based tourism initiatives and sustainable tourism development : a case of Mwaluganje Elephant sanctuary in Kwale County, Kenya.
(Strathmore University, 2014) Musila, Paul; Kihima, Boniface; Kariuki, Albert
Sustainable tourism refers to tourism development that meets the needs of present visitors and hosts while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It emphasizes the balance between environmental, social, and economic aspects of tourism. The development of Community Based Tourism Initiatives (CBTIs) in the 1990s was fundamentally based on their potential to enhance local community support for the conservation agenda. However, for the model to be sustainable, they must provide better returns environmentally, socially and economically to the community. The purpose of this conference paper is to illustrate whether Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary (MES) was sustainably developed, as a business entity and as a community initiative. The paper findings show that that the formation of MES led to a reduction in the quality and quantity of natural resource available to the landowners and that the current resources are unsustainable. Both plant and animal diversity/populations have been noted to have reduced in MES due to illegal logging, invasive species, poaching and browsing by elephants. Landowners are unsatisfied with the benefits derived from the MES, due to low income generation and economic linkages. The paper recommends that landowners be educated on alternative livelihoods, and tourism product improvement activities in MES be supported by the government and community be involved in their implementation.
Community participation in tourism : the case of Lewa.
(Strathmore University, 2014) Munyiri, Esther
The local community is one of the most important stakeholders in tourism development. However, in most instances, private benefit of conservation to individuals, households and even entire community are not made clear or may be non-existent. This research draws on social exchange theory, to examine the level of participation by communities around Lewa, a private conservancy in Northern Kenya. Lewa presents a successful model that has won the community support. Evidence shows that local people around Lewa participates in tourism through policy and planning process; benefits sharing and owning community projects. Education assistance is seen to be the greatest help that the community around Lewa gets from the conservancy. Other assistance relates to healthcare, water provision, credit facilities and grazing. The research agrees with the principles of the social exchange theory, since the relationship between the evaluation of costs, benefits and support for tourism was substantiated. In general, there is a direct relationship between positive impact variables and participation variables (benefits sharing; involvement in decision-making as well as availability of community projects initiated by tourism). These participation variables are, in addition, directly related to support for tourism. As a result, the community values wildlife for its economic benefit.
Community participation in tourism development : a case study of Ada
(Strathmore University, 2014) Dodoo, Jacob
This paper examines the effectiveness of community participation in tourism development and introduces the community based-tourism relationship model as applied to a case in Ada, Ghana. The application demonstrates that the model is a tool for successful development of sustainable tourism. It focuses on the “circulation mechanism” that connects community resources and extra-community stakeholders through community-based intermediaries, and a “balancing mechanism” that considers the existence value and economic value, supplemented by the community-based intermediary‟s functions to transfer financial and technology capital from tourist sources. Other researchers including Butler, 1998, suggest that community-based tourism development may provide an opportunity for a sustainable tourism industry. An empirical study was conducted with descriptive and exploratory survey adopted for this study. Primary data for the study was obtained through structured and unstructured interviews with locals, tourists, traditional council and district officials. 65% of the respondent indicated that tourism development in the area has a positive impact on job creation and it should be inclusive of the area inhabitants. Community-based tourism is seen as an all-inclusive bottom-up approach to tourism planning and development that incorporates local entrepreneurs in the planning process, in a meaningful way. Collaboration amongst all key stakeholders is imperative for creating a sustainable enabling environment for all inclusive participation in community based tourism.
Community participation towards ecotourism initiative in Binsar Wildlife sanctuary, India
(Strathmore University, 2014) Bhalla, Priya; Prodyut, Bhattacharya
The community based ecotourism destination of Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the temperate broadleaved forest of the Middle Himalayas, the hill state of Uttarakhand, India. Ecotourism concept has been accepted by the governments of mountain states of India for its potential to provide livelihood opportunities in remote forest areas where otherwise industrial development has limited scope. The contribution of local communities in various ecotourism products – guided nature treks, birdwatching, Himalayan view and home-stays encourages their local guardianship for existing natural resources as heritage. The paper follows the premise that successful community based ecotourism initiatives in Binsar WLS are supported by the partnerships of communities with government, non-government and private sector like the Village Ways Company, forming crucial ecotourism stakeholders. More than a decade has passed since village level community based ecotourism began within and outside Binsar WLS. This study reviews and analyses its experiences in such six villages within the sanctuary. Analysis reveals that direct involvement of local community in day to day management and planning activities not only improves their skills and abilities but also assists in policy and decision making process, adding incentive to conserve its biodiverse rich Himalayan Landscape. Participating communities of Binsar enjoy decentralized system of power and responsibilities by active involvement in ecotourism product designing, developing benefits sharing model, identifying groups and establishing linkages with multi stakeholders. The study concludes that equitable benefit sharing, good governance, positive international relations and policy implementation are necessary in determining the overall practicality and sustainability of the ecotourism enterprise.
Critical Success factors for restaurant franchisees in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2014) Gikonyo, Lucy
In today‟s globalized world, businesses look to expand in order to have a global presence. Restaurant businesses have expanded internationally using franchising. This study seeks to determine the critical success factors of a franchised restaurant system entering the Kenyan market from the franchisees perspective. It seeks to „to establish how franchisees define, identify and evaluate success. This study provides a theoretical framework that helps to understand the background of why organizations seek to expand using franchising method and consequently the critical success factors of franchised restaurants entering the Kenyan market. The study used qualitative methodology in establishing the views of franchisees with the use of in-depth interviews for collecting data. The results yielded critical success factors from the franchisees perspective. These critical success factors from the franchisees point of view include a strong brand identity, good financial management, employee competence, good staff management, overall competent management and relationship marketing. These findings can be used by restaurant franchisees that seek to establish successful businesses in the Kenyan market and other similar regional markets. The Africa franchise partners may also find useful information in setting up the Franchise Association of Kenya. Other franchise businesses may also benefit from some aspects of the study.
Eco-tourism as a strategy for biodiversity conservation in Rwanda
(Strathmore University, 2014) Wanyera, Francis
Biological diversity or biodiversity is a term used to describe the variety of life on Earth. It includes plants, animals and other organisms. On the other hand ecotourism has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors of the tourism market, influenced primarily by public demand for undegraded environments. It is a form of alternative tourism which aims to achieve economic gain through biodiversity preservation. Not only that, ecotourism represents a small segment of nature-tourism that involves travel to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas. When planned properly, ecotourism can integrate conservation of biodiversity with socio-economic development of local communities. It implies that eco-tourism can minimize or even avoid most negative effects, if properly handled, managed and controlled. There is a broad consensus amongst researchers that eco-tourism can be used as a tool of biodiversity conservation but should be fully compatible with conservation goals. The aim of the study is to determine how eco-tourism can be used as a strategy for biodiversity conservation. It is not clear if ecotourism can have significant negative impacts when poorly planned and managed including severe environmental degradation. For the case of Rwanda the problem may be attributed to factors like high population pressure which has led to over-exploitation of biodiversity, expansion of intensive agriculture, deforestation, habitat loss and wetland degradation. The case study will be Volcanoes National Park and the research methodology will involve descriptive research design as well as use of qualitative and quantitative methods together with primary and secondary data. Data collection will be by use of questionnaires, interview guide and observation. Analysis of data will be done by use of statistical and explanatory methods.
Enriching governance in Africa via sustainable tourism - the integrity action pathway
(Strathmore University, 2014) Agwa, Samuel
The lofty human interchange and economic potential of tourism poses a critical platform and frontier with boundless possibilities that could be harnessed to enrich the quality of governance in Africa at both State and non-State levels. The tourism and hospitality industry has a socially enriching depth that beyond building communities, saving nature and sustainable biodiversity abounds with adaptable integrity considerations that can be weaved within its theoretical and operational demonstrations to generally add value to deepening governance via personal and organisational integrity actions. This could be realisable by tapping into rich nature‟s lessons as well as general insightfulness in turning recreation and leisure to deeper moments of self-retreats and reminiscences. The far reaching depth of how a refreshing tourism experience could be transformed to an inspirational and uplifting integrity challenge or action for the industry stakeholders to seek and apply sustainable common good pursuits back to the workplace is reasonably highlighted. An incisive out of the box straitjacket is addressed beyond peering at nature and holidaying clasping the wine glass of hospitality. Though thinking integrity or considering its significance may not be the primary pursuits in a tourism experience or plan, distantly distinct scenarios have been elicited to create an integrity-tourism synergy that within sustainable tourism re-programming and overhaul could have resounding promise for deepening governance and public policy.
Exploring hotel managers perceptions and responses as counter measures for seasonality – a sustainable framework for Kenya’s tourism industry
(Strathmore University, 2014) Eleri, Jones; Burugu, Rose; Wishitemi, Bob; Kiprutto, Nehemiah
Seasonality in tourism has continued to be a concern for researchers, managers, policy makers and the hotel industry globally. Kenya is typified by a two-peak seasonality pattern, which is often characterized by the nature of tourist seasons. In terms of measuring seasonality patterns and managers responses, a plethora of previous studies have measured its impacts, scale, duration and recurrence, from the point of view, of either analyzing: tourist traffic in and out of hotels and other enterprises; the number of workers laid-off or employed; the hotels ability to profitably maintain business operations all-year round. Due to the consistency and predictability of seasonality patterns, hotel managers have continuously responded by either coping, challenging or capitulating. Despite the extensive awareness of the problem, very few studies have focused on the effects of managers‟ perceptions or explored non-competitive and sustainable strategic frameworks to be adopted by hotel managers‟. By using a low-cost and differentiated strategic framework, a qualitative research which employed a multiple case study design, was used to shade some light on managers responses, solutions and perceptions. This paper largely relies on a 2013-2014 qualitative research of 17 hotels in the South Coast of Kenya. The results show that there is a potential for a new and sustainable shift of the problem in the future. It recommends that investors as well as hotel managers should be more receptive to creativity and investment in unrivalled products and services through value-innovation.
Fluctuating tourism patterns : SME’s adaptive strategies in Nairobi
(Strathmore University, 2014) Njamiu, Daisy; Chiawo, David
Tourism seasonality has been well reviewed in available literature. However, research on effects of seasonality on Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been limited, especially in East Africa. This study sought to investigate on fluctuating tourism patterns and possible effects on tourism SMEs in Nairobi area. We examined coping strategies applied by SMEs to the fluctuating patterns. We analysesd primary data from 80 SMEs and additional cases from available database. Tourism off-peaks showed significant impact on tourism SMEs with near 100% of surveyed groups indicating significant effect. Among the strategies applied to cope with the tourism fluctuating patterns included; cooperation with other SMEs, marketing, promotions and discounts. Product diversification and innovations appeared to be major coping strategies with significant socio-economic returns among SMEs. Despite the need for such adaptive strategies, some SMEs had none in place and had limited consciousness to such fluctuating tourism patterns with negative economic impacts to their businesses. There is need for intervention of major tourism stakeholders including, Government, established tourism enterprises, tourism product developers and marketing agencies to improve innovation and entrepreneurship among the small holder tourism businesses. Having a wide range of strategies to deal with the effects of tourism seasonality showed viable economic gains and competitive advantage.
The impact of community partnership approach to water hyacinth control : a case study of Lake Victoria
(Strathmore University, 2014) Ondeng, Monica; Owiti, Fanuel
Water hyacinth is a free-floating perennial plant that can grow to a height of 3 feet. The dark green leave blades are circular to elliptical in shape attached to a spongy, inflated petiole and thick heavily branched, dark fibrous root system. Water hyacinth is a very aggressive invader forming thick mats which cover the entire surface of the lake causing oxygen depletions and hindering the multiplication of fish in the Lake. It has affected water sports, water transport and fishing in Lake Victoria. Due to water hyacinth coverage in the lake, there have been no significant water sports yet this is one of the most important tourist attractions in the region. Water transport has also been affected through the complete coverage with the green leaves of water hyacinth that have spread all over the water surface, while fishing has been greatly affected due its occupation and oxygen depletions. However, with proper community partnership approach, this menace can be turned into positive entrepreneurial activities like manufacturing of organic manure, biogas, crafting of furniture and beauty products for supply to the hospitality and tourism industry. This paper will identify various community partnership approaches that can be used to control water hyacinth from Lake Victoria, hence impacting positively to the local community both economically, socially, and environmentally within Lake Region.
Innovation inequality within service sectors : preliminary evidence from the hospitality sector in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2014) Oduori, Fredrick
Limited attention has been paid to the issue of NSD between sectors. To address this critique of the literature a comparative study of NSD strategy and process of the hospitality and financial sectors was conducted. The exploratory study used a cross-sectional survey-based methodology and case study strategy from 35 hotels. Three-stage sampling procedure was used in the study. Findings from empirical studies of the financial sector were used for comparison. The data showed that there is a significant difference in the implementation of the NSD strategy between chain and independent hotels. The type of management adopted by the establishment influenced the execution of NSD strategy. There is no evidence that the number of new services developed is related to hotel‟s star rating for hospitality sector. The analysis has been restricted to two sectors: hospitality and financial services. This suggests the need for further comparative studies of NSD between other service sectors. The findings of this research support the notion that some of the key NSD strategy and process may be common across all service sectors whereas others must be adjusted for sector variations. The insights from this study can help service managers to better understand innovation inequality within the service sectors and manage their NSD efforts in a sector-specific context. The findings of the research are expected to advance the understanding of service cataloging and their implications on a firm‟s NSD strategy and process.
Insecurity and Kenyan tourism
(Strathmore University, 2014) Buigut, Steven
Tourism contributes a significant portion of the Kenyan GDP. However, over the last few years the country has witnessed a drop in visitor arrivals from 1.8 million in 2011 to about 1.5 million in 2013. Tourism earnings declined from 97.9 billion Ksh to 94 billion Ksh over the same period. The drop is attributed mainly to security concerns. Towards the end of the last decade the instability in Somalia led to kidnapping activities inside Kenyan territory and threatened Kenya‟s tourism sector. This forced the Kenyan Government, in October 2011, to actively participate in the Somali conflict and engage Al-Shabaab. Following this action the Somali based terror group has waged a campaign of retaliatory attacks inside Kenya, mostly against soft targets. The tourism industry has suffered as a result. Future growth and sustainability of this sector now hinges on a robust, well-crafted security policy. The present study analyses the effect of general insecurity and terrorism incidence and intensity on tourism numbers in Kenya using monthly tourist arrival and departure data from 2007 to 2013. No such study have been carried out for Kenya. Our results suggest that intensity of attacks as captured by fatalities significantly impacts negatively on tourist arrivals much more than the incidence per se. Also disruptive acts of insecurity such as the JKIA fire also very significantly impacted negatively on tourist arrivals. Policy-wise, this suggests that the priority of security infrastructure should be to eliminate high intensity events from occurring.
Law as a tool to enable community partnership in wildlife conservation though sustainable tourism
(Strathmore University, 2014) Gitari, Elizabeth
Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, Communities, partnership, co-ownership, sustainable tourism. The wildlife (conservation and management Act) 2013 currently recognizes communities as active participants in wildlife conservation. This is a new concept in law as before its enactment, all community conservation of wildlife took place in a vacuum of legislative support. However, when addressing the participation of communities in wildlife conservation and the issue of wildlife user rights, the Act, assumes that those who own land that is critical for wildlife conservation are the owners of tourism ventures when in fact, in most cases, they are landlords with token appreciation from the real owners of tourism ventures. In most community conservancies that are hailed as promoting sustainable tourism, the benefits that trickle down to the community land owners are all factored into the cost of doing business by the tourism investors, where the profit goes to the investor, who more often than not, is a foreigner. It is time to re-align this and seek out business models that see communities as joint owners of the tourism resources and therefore active participants in promoting sustainable tourism.
Orature and nature: historical narratives on selected tourist sites in Luo Nyanza and Western Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2014) Wangari, Mwai
Literature, whether oral or written, is a reservoir for evidences of realities. Thus, Literature is a powerful tool for documenting social and historical- geographical landscapes. In this article landscapes are taken to mean natural structures that have been used as tourist sites. Perhaps the major use of literature therefore according to the understanding of this article is its potential for “revealing” the origin of the mentioned landscapes and landmarks, albeit in a fantastic manner to local and foreign tourists to such sites. To a literary scholar, this marks the symbiotic relationship between fact and fiction. It is factual because what is described is real and tangible and fictional too because the explanations often go beyond normal human understanding. Kenya is dotted with magnificent social and natural landscapes that have mapped out as tourist sites. . This article revisits the western regions of Kenya and the orature in which some of the landscapes found in these regions are to described innovatively either as contexts or texts. In the article we gather inspiration from explanatory tales that have been long narrated among the Luo and the Abaluhya, from generations to generations to archive the beliefs about the existence of these sites. We now ask ourselves; what are the artistic creations in relation to the landscapes in this region? Are there any stock characters or recurring features attached to these landscapes? To what extent can these narratives be used to market the sites? Thus, the purpose of this article is twofold to; 1) identify and carry out an eco-critical analysis of oral “texts” that are built on real landscapes in Western Kenya and 2) consider the extent to which this ecofriendly “texts” can be used to market the sites.
The potential and challenges of promoting ecotourism in Kenya’s wetlands
(Strathmore University, 2014) Irandu, Evaristus
In the last few decades, ecotourism has become well developed in many parts of the world. This is because it is increasingly viewed as a strategy for promoting sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. But, uncritical adoption of ecotourism as a development strategy may pose problems to pristine ecosystems such as wetlands. The aim of the paper is to assess the extent to which wetlands in the country can be exploited sustainably for ecotourism development. The challenges faced in promoting ecotourism in the delicate and sensitive ecosystems are also examined. The paper adopts an exploratory research design to assess the ecotourism potential in the wetlands. The methodology used comprised thorough literature search and review on potential of and development of ecotourism in other parts of the world. In-depth interviews with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials and questionnaire survey on local communities and tourists were used. The four Ramsar sites in the country were used as case studies and information obtained from them was used to generalize about their potential for wetlands tourism. Several study visits were made to the selected Ramsar sites and observations made were recorded. The paper established that proper management of ecotourism in wetlands can bring many ecological and, socio-economic benefits to the local communities bordering the wetlands. Therefore, it is recommended that the county governments should put in place mechanism to ensure benefits from ecotourism trickle down to the local community.

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