Income dependency and community’s attitudes towards cultural tourism in Kenya: an explanatory approach from kogelo area, Siaya County

Abstract

Dependency on income from tourism and its related activities can affect how the local community’s attitude towards cultural tourism. Despite this, the aspect of tourism income is sometimes overlooked for its importance in shaping the attitudes of the local community towards tourism. The aim of the research was to determine the relationship between dependency on tourism income and local community’s attitudes towards cultural tourism development at Kogelo area, Kenya. The study population comprised of the local community living at Kogelo, which comprised of a population of slightly over 4,000 residents. The study employed explanatory research design to address the research objective. The study had a sample size of 137 who were the residents of Kogelo. The relationship was determined using linear regression and F distribution test was used to test the research hypothesis. From the study, 41.6% of the respondents reiterated that they depended on tourism and its related activities for their daily sustainable, while 58.4% did not. Furthermore, 73% of the respondents accepted cultural tourism development at Kogelo, while 27% did not. The hypothesis that “There is no significant relationship between dependency on tourism income and local community’s attitude towards cultural tourism development at Kogelo” was rejected. This implied that dependency on tourism income influenced the attitudes of the locals towards cultural tourism development at Kogelo.