Ian MUNANURA, Oregon State University, United States
Edwin SABUHORO, Pennsylvania State University, United States
The potential of tourism to strengthen the wellbeing of host communities is the premise of using tourism to advance the sustainable conservation of biodiversity. Understandably, tourism scholars have focused on research that examines the tangible benefits of tourism on communities (e.g., income and jobs). However, evidence indicates that tourism is more likely to advance the intangible benefits to communities (e.g., strengthening social capital), which are likely to sustain communities during adversity much more than the tangible benefits of tourism. Focusing on communities in Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park, we tested a novel hypothesis that community residents with direct access to tourism benefits are more resilient to adversity (e.g., the adverse effects of COVID19) than residents with no direct access to tourism benefits. Using inferential statistical analyses (e.g., chi-square difference tests and independent sample t-tests), we compared responses from residents with and with no direct access to tourism benefits. Results across most dimensions of resilience (e.g., positive outlook, spirituality, communication, and social support network) reveal empirical evidence indicating that tourism enhances a community’s ability to cope and withstand adversity. Currently, efforts to examine the role of tourism in strengthening community resilience to adversity are limited. However, tourism host communities are frequently experiencing adversity (e.g., pandemics such as COVID 19, adverse climate change effects on agricultural production) that is likely to undermine the years of investment in community-based tourism as means to sustain the conservation of biodiversity. Therefore, this study provides an opportunity for further studies examining links between tourism and community resilience, and how best tourism could be designed to enhance community resilience.
Mots clés : Resilience|Community-based tourism|biodiversity |conservation|wellbeing
A104105IM