Impact of tourism development on the quality of life of host communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

The impact of tourism development on the quality of life (QOL) of residents of host communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region is the focus of this study. The aim is to empirically evaluate the positive and negative impacts of tourism development on the needs and QOL of residents of host communities in the Niger Delta region. The tourism locations considered include the Tinapa Business Resort, Obudu Mountain Resort and Mary Slessor Cottage. A random sample of 402 heads of households of the three host communities was selected through two-stage cluster sampling for the study. Structured questionnaire comprising socio-demographic items, items on positive and negative socio-demographic, economic and environmental impacts and WHOQOL-BREF assessment, was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using frequencies, means, standard deviation, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear regression analysis. Positive socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts of tourism development increased QOL of residents while negative socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts reduced the QOL. The residents QOL were affected by marital status, occupation, level of education and income at 0.05 level of significance. Efficient and effective policies and strategies were recommended to mitigate the negative impacts on the QOL of the host communities. Local communities should be actively involved in the decision-making processes towards tourism development to ensure eco-friendly initiatives are taken, their perspectives are considered and their needs are met.