Strategies Adopted in Adventure Tourism Product Diversification in Sustainable Tourism Development in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya
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Date
2018
Authors
Morong’, Dorice Ronoh
Kariuki, Albert Chege
Bitok, Jane
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academia edu
Abstract
Tourism as a sector of the economy is used by most countries in the advocacy of economic
development. Most of the adventure tourists/visitors travel to rural areas to experience natural
wonders of the world which are prominently features such as great waterfalls, volcanic
phenomena, and geological phenomena like caves or spectacular views. This study investigated
the strategies adopted in adventure tourism product diversification for sustainable tourism
development in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. The study employed descriptive research
design in which the target population included 2 County government officials, 1 national
government representative, 1 Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) official, 1,250
Athletes (High Altitude camp), 3 hotel managers, 4,876 tourists, 3 private investors and 24,450
community members. The sample size for each category was determined and distributed
proportionately as follows: Community Members were 316, tourists 63 and athletes 16. Census
approach was used for County Government Officials, National Government official (Tourism
Regulatory Officer), KVDA (tourism officer), hotel managers and private investors since they
were few in number. Therefore, the total sample size was 405 respondents. Purposive sampling
strategy was utilized to choose the respondents for every one of the Community Members,
tourists and athletes. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect the data. Data
analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics techniques. Results revealed that
adventure products influenced tourism diversification in Elgeyo Marakwet County. Some of the
prominent adventure products included paragliding sports on the escarpments of Elgeyo Marakwet County, cycling, trekking, camping (Rimoi National reserve) caves (Kiplachoch cave
in Kapyego Marakwet East Sub county), Torok falls situated at high cliff, Teren rapids with pot
like shapes, Kipkabus dam, Chebloch George, Kipteber hills, hanging valley and birds
migratory. It was recommended that there was need to focus on new adventure products should
be encouraged in order to increase tourism diversity. Policies on adventure tourism should be
formulated and implemented to increase the diversification of tourism
Description
Article
Keywords
Strategies adopted, Adventure products, Tourism diversification, Tourism development, Elgeyo Marakwet County
Citation
Morongâ, D. R., Kariuki, A. C., & Bitok, J. (2018). Strategies Adopted in Adventure Tourism Product Diversification in Sustainable Tourism Development in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 1(1), 94-112.