Exploring the Transformative Effect of Community Managed Nature Tourism on Community Empowerment in Odisha: Perspective from Local Residents

In this study, an attempt was made to examine the relationships between community managed nature tourism and community empowerment from the local residents’ perspective, as well as to test how these relationships varied among different demographic characteristics of residents. For this study, five hypotheses were proposed based on the review of literature and tested using residents living near the protected nature camps in Odisha. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 184 local residents selected from across the eight nature camps of Odisha. The variables examined in this study included residents' gender, age, education, occupation, and income. Data analysis was done using the independent sample t-test, and one way ANOVA. The study findings revealed that the perception of local residents was positive regarding the impact of CMNT projects on community empowerment in Odisha. Furthermore, total community empowerment scores were found to significantly differ across gender, age, and income, and insignificantly across education and occupation. The findings underscored the importance of CMNT projects in community empowerment as well as can help tourism planners in making strategic and operation decision for community managed tourism development in Odisha.