Exploring Potentials of Tourism to Sustainable Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage in the Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia

Abstract

This dissertation thoroughly explores the potential of tourism for the sustainable conservation of natural and cultural heritage in the Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia, and offers detailed information valuable to practitioners and academics. The literature suggests that natural and cultural heritage destinations are important for implementing tourism-related activities. The Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve is known for both natural and cultural heritage, and in this respect, it has long been a source of tourist attractions. A qualitative, single-site case study design was employed in the research. Semi-structured interviews, such as in-depth interviews and focus groups, were used to gather data from 65 informants, including field observations. To manage and code the transcribed data into themes and ease the analysis process, Open-Code Software Version 4.02 was utilized. The findings of the study indicate that, first, the tourism activity held within the Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve fails to use the potential of tourism that can support sustainable heritage conservation in terms of the environmental, economic, social and cultural, political, and bureaucratic dimensions; this is because tourism in the area is not scientifically planned and managed; secondly, it reveals there are four interrelated challenges that hinder tourism's potential for making effective support for the sustainable conservation of natural and cultural heritage. These include frequent and periodic shuffling of leadership in the tourism sector, a lack of a well structured system in tourism governance, a lack of well-integrated partnerships among the tourism stakeholder units, and the absence of hybridized work arrangements and partnerships, thirdly, the local communities residing around the Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve have excellent opinions, interests, and passions for sustainable conservation of natural and cultural heritage, even though they do not directly benefited from tourism's potential benefit contribution; and fourthly, it shows there should have to be strategies that enable the potential of tourism that can support the sustainable conservation of natural and cultural heritage. Therefore, this study informed concerned bodies, such as governments and sustainable tourism stakeholders, that they must systematically address these issues to encourage the potential of tourism for the sustainable conservation of natural and cultural heritage. .