Crowd Management Strategies to Lessen Covid-19 Spread in Tourist Sites: A Case Study of Lekki Conservation Centre, Lagos State, Nigeria

Managing the environment is important to sustain the quality of experience in a recreation site. While the study of the ecological impacts of visitors to outdoor recreation is important, monitoring the social dimension should also be done by the management of recreation sites. Crowding and tourist density are grouped among the major social components of increased visitor activity. There are strategies imbibed to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 cases, some of which include the regular washing of hands, using sanitizer after washing hands, and trying to protect the face and mouth from coming in contact with the virus in a place that may be contaminated. Thus, this study investigates the management strategies that are being used for crowd control in order to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in Lekki Conservation Centre, Lagos, Nigeria. A well-structured questionnaire directed at all staff members was used to obtain primary data at the site. Data was analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Results revealed that there is the presence of COVID-19 safety precautions at the site as agreed upon by all members of staff. Furthermore, the staff also stated that the site has sufficient safety personnel to supervise the crowd at any given time. Results also revealed that majority of the staff (94.7%) were satisfied with the crowd management strategies at the site. This study concludes that the site has in place the necessary safety precautions to control crowding as well as mitigate the transmission of Covid-19.