Interaction Institutions And Impacts Of Tourism On The Bishoftu-modjo- Hawassa Route Central Ethiopia

The Bishoftu-Modjo-Hawassa tourist route bestows enjoyable natural and cultural tourist attractionsrnboth to domestic and international tourists. It hosts lakes, hot springs, parks and cultural events thatrnuniquely epitomize tourism phenomena in central Ethiopia. A seemingly simple tourist-local contact,rnthat takes place in and around the attraction sites, opens windows of opportunities to forge short- andrnlong-term relationships between tourists and locals. As a result, the central thesis of the dissertationrndeals with the examination of tourist-local interaction, social exchange relations, local tourismrninstitutions and resultant impacts on the residents.rnThe empirical assessments elsewhere in Ethiopia and the circumstances on the route have conferredrnthe paucity of sociological research on tourist-local interaction, social-exchange relations, institutionalrninterventions and impacts. This study borrowed the pragmatist research philosophy that advocatesrnontological and epistemological mixes in an effort to explore and minimize the gaps noted on thernempirical knowledge. As an extension of the pragmatist philosophy, the research strategy employs therntriangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods. As mirror to the methodological triangulation,rnthe analysis has followed a convergent design that combines descriptive and inferential techniquesrnwith the themes emerging through qualitative explorations.rnA mix of the tenets of Interactionism, Social Exchange Theory and Theories of Modernity [globalrncultural flows and risk thesis] deployed to carry out the analysis of concepts, facts, numbers andrnthemes, which proliferate as arguments. The propositions of these theories have witnessed theirrnpractical relevance in the investigation of tourist-local interaction, social exchange practices andrnimpacts. Besides, the developmental perspective and ideology adopted by the Ethiopian governmentrnprovided insights to the policy and strategic discussions pertaining to the operation of tourismrninstitutions and the phenomena of tourism on the route.rnThe findings of the research revealed that the natural tourist attraction settings on the Bishoftu-Modjo-rnHawassa route constitute the spots where tourist-local interrelationships emerge and take distinctivernforms. The emerging interrelationships pave the ground for intercultural exchanges that recur betweenrntourists and locals. The intercultural exchanges have involved the circulation of cultural traits,rneconomic assets and lifestyles. Both the processes of interaction and exchange relations have pushedrnaway the ordinary locals to the fringes of experiencing the fruits of interaction and exchange relations.rnIn connection, the roles of the tourism institutions in mediating interactional and exchange practicesrnare either negligible or taken for granted. Poor coordination, limitation of resources and shallowrnintegrations with the wider community are characteristics of local tourism institutions on the route.rnBased on categorical classifications of the level interaction, the survey result has conferred that thernlevel of tourist-local interaction on the route fell under moderate level i.e. not low or high. The Chi-rnSquare Test of Association run for factors such as gender of tourists, age of tourists, cycles of tourists’rnvisit to a site per day, locals’ religious denomination, educational attainment of the locals andrnoccupational categories of the locals have shown statistically significant relations, at [α=0.05], withrnthe level of tourist-local interaction. The Multinomial Logistic Regression Model identified that thernnumber of tourists in a traveling group and the educational attainment of the locals are among thernsignificant predictors that distinguished locals who have high level of interaction with the touristsrnxixrnfrom those locals who have low interaction in reference to those locals who experienced moderaternlevel of interaction with the tourists.rnOne of the core findings of the study was the consequences of interactional and exchange practices onrnthe local residents, which took two forms: (a) beneficial, and (b) disruptive. For the community subsegmentsrnup front in the interactional ladders, particularly for local guides and service providers, thernphenomena of interaction and exchange has continued to create livelihood options, generatedrnemployment opportunities, diversified their income sources and boosted their mutual communicationsrnwith tourists. The Chi-Square Test of Association for each of these variables, in turn, hold significantrnassociations with the level of the positive consequences of tourism on the locals, at [α=0.05].rnHowever, the strengths of their associations were weak. On the downside, tourist-local interactionsrnand exchange practices have affected the sanctity of (a) locals’ cultural traits, (b) their environment, inrnaddition to fueling the spread of social ills such as begging and theft. As a whole, the beneficialrnconsequences surpass the disruptions caused via tourism on the route.rnThe research results implicate on multitudes of issues. Above all, there is a need to integrate effortsrntowards the mobilization of tourism resources for local, regional and national developments.rnSecondly, in order to do so, the policies and strategies should align the stronger tunes of the rhetoricrnwith the practices in the local structures and institutions. Thirdly, the results underlined the importancernof better coordination and networking among the tourism establishments and major players. Finally,rnthe study results call for strong community-tourism industry linkage in the endeavors to undertakernrigorous and applied research. In addition to contributing to the institutionalization of sociology ofrntourism in Ethiopia, the attainment of these implications would enable harnessing and realizing thernpotential of tourism for social development

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