Arnessing touristic potentials towards local development in Mbengwi subdivision.

Abstract

Local development is one of the major problems faced by most rural areas especially in less economically developed nations in the world. Despite the fact that most of the rural areas are endowed with rich resources, most of the rural population is involved in agriculture which is mostly subsistence agriculture. This leads to high pressure on the fragile environment leading to low productivity and therefore underdevelopment as the population finds it difficult to afford for the basic needs of life. With this situation in hand, it is therefore important to seek other sources of sustenance in order to ensure local development. It is on this ground that this present work seeks to study how the harnessing of touristic potentials can contribute to local development. This study entitled “The harnessing of touristic potentials towards local development in Mbengwi Subdivision”, examines the relationship that exists between the harnessing of touristic potentials and local development in MSD. The study employs the systems approach of research in which the roles of the various actors were all examined. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Structured questionnaires and interview guide was used in the collection of primary data through a stratified random sampling method. Secondary data was collected from published and unpublished literatures. Data collected was analyzed using statistical software such as IBM SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The hypotheses were all verified using the Chi Square Test of Independence. According to this test, the first hypothesis was the most relevant with contingency coefficient of 0.619 which infers a significant relationship between the harnessing of touristic potentials and local development in MSD. The research concludes that there is a significant relationship between the harnessing of touristic potentials and local development in MSD. The outcome of the study is generalised so as to depict what should be done in order to harness the touristic potentials in MSD. The work concludes by suggesting some recommendations that could be implemented to facilitate the harnessing of touristic potentials in MSD and engender local development.