Effect of tourism on socio-economic development in Nigeria: A study of Enugu state, 2015-2022

Abstract

The study is focused on tourism development and socio-economic development of Enugu State. The specific objectives of the study were to: determine the effect of tourism development on revenue generation in Enugu State, Nigeria; ascertain the effect of tourism development on employment generation in Enugu State and establish the effect of tourism development on the rural development of Enugu State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey method was used for this study. Primary and secondary sources of data were employed in the study. The population of the study is 968,300. A sample size 369 was obtained through the use of Freud and Williams’s formula. The method of data collection was both primary and secondary. The data generated for the study was analysed through the use of mean score while Z-score was employed to test the hypotheses. The findings showed that Tourism development had a significant effect on revenue generation, employment and rural development of Enugu State, Nigeria. The study concluded that tourism is an economic activity that promotes economic growth and a growing source of revenue to government, private sector as well as a major source of income to individuals through the creation of various employment opportunities as well as contributing to their individual welfare. The study recommended that there is the need to embark on aggressive manpower development required in the tourism industry, such as in hotels and catering, training schools and institutions should be established.