Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: An Investigation of Ecotourism Visitors’ Experience at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana

The ecotourism project at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (BFMS) is a Community-based Ecotourism (CBE) project that has become a popular and fast-growing environmentally friendly segment of the tourism industry in Central Ghana, Africa. The Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary’s Community-based Ecotourism project is managed and controlled mainly by the community members in the communities of Boabeng and Fiema. This study examines the relationship between the visitor experience and sustainable ecotourism practices at BFMS. This research expands on the literature concerning the ecotourism project at the site and its sustainability by assessing its 1) socio-cultural sustainability, in terms of improvement of social wellbeing of local people and conserving the local culture; 2) economic sustainability, in terms of income generation and creation of employment opportunities; and 3) environmental sustainability, in terms of protecting the monkey species, the white-thighed colobus and the Campbell’s mona monkey, and the forest. Using participatory observation, interviews, and focus group discussions, the relationship between the visitors experience and sustainable ecotourism practices at BFMS is examined based of on four key features: 1) visitor motivations, 2) visitor activities, 3) visitor satisfaction, and 4) visitor experiences that contribute to economic, socio-cultural, and environmental sustainability. Results of this study show that a better understanding of the visitors’ experience in terms of their motivations, activities and satisfactions can lead to improvements with regards to: a) economic sustainability; b) social-cultural sustainability; and c) environmental sustainability. This research emphasizes the need to improve the visitors’ experience in terms of their connection with the cultural, social, and environmental aspects of community-based ecotourism for the ecotourism practice at BFMS to be sustainable in the long-term.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Arts

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Yeboah, Bright Adu

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Sicotte, Pascale
• McKay, Ben M.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Draper, Dianne L.
• Hayashi, Naotaka

• Ecotourism, visitors' experience, community-based ecotourism, sustainability, sustainable ecotourism development, Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38242

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/112582