Culture-based tourism, cultural conservation and community livelihoods: a case of the six cultural sites on the Kabaka’s trail in Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the relationship between culture-based tourism, cultural conservation and community livelihoods around cultural sites in Uganda, given the fact that little has been realized in the promotion of culture-based tourism and cultural conservation as a tool for community livelihoods. Most tourism projects in Uganda have been pointed to nature based tourism and conservation of nature, giving little attention to the potential in culture-based tourism and cultural conservation. The livelihoods of the communities living around cultural sites have remained at the periphery of mainstream economic activity, the communities seem to lack access to essential services and infrastructure and they exhibit prevalence of poverty.

The study reviewed literature that was related to the study variables. It used a cross sectional research design and collected quantitative and qualitative data using structured questionnaire and focus group discussions respectively of which only 337 questionnaires were used for analysis. Data analysis was done using SPSS 19.0, the analysis indicated culture-based tourism is positively correlated with the cultural conservation in the enhancement of community livelihoods, it also established that cultural conservation was positively related to community livelihoods. Culture-based tourism and cultural conservation were found to be having a significant effect on community livelihoods. Financial capital appeared to be the most scarce livelihood asset among the households surveyed. However cultural conservation was a better (stronger) predictor of community livelihoods. The study made conclusion and recommended that culture-based tourism enhancing strategies such as promotions and community participation among others in all cultural sites in Uganda. There were limitations in terms of scanty literature on some variables. The study suggested that future studies should focus on marketing strategies and community involvement in culture-based tourism decision making process.