The exploitation of touristic resources in Belo sub Division: Constraints and prospects.

Abstract

Developing the resources of a place has the possibility of ameliorating the life of the people. The study examines the different natural and human touristic resources in Belo Sub Division (BSD), the actors involved in the development of tourism, the constraints and prospects to the development of these touristic resources. BSD is located in Boyo Division and it is endowed with a good number of touristic resources though most of them are still under exploited as a result of some factors that the work examines. This study was carried out in some selected villages in BSD. Data for the study were generated from two sources: primary and secondary. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was administered to households in the selected villages. Interviews were carried out with some resource persons and field observations were also used in the collection of data. Secondary data was collected from internet and documented sources. The data was analysed using the descriptive and quantitative methods with the use of Microsoft Excel and SPSS 16 and presented in the forms of tables, figures, photos, percentages etc. The strategy to the development of touristic resources was analyses using the SWOT analysis (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). From field findings, it was observed that Belo sub division has a beautiful landscape which is made up of mountains, hills, rivers, caves, and crater lakes with attractive floral and faunal reserves. The hilly nature of Belo gives an outstanding panorama over the surrounding rugged grasslands and valleys. This sub division also has rich and diverse socio-cultural touristic resources which include the cultural festivals, ritual practices, traditional dances, arts and craft. All these can be used to develop tourism and other recreational activities in Belo which will promote and diversify the rural economy. We adopted the qualitative method to verify the information we got from the field and Our hypotheses were all valid.