Geographisches Institut der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Bonn
ECOTOURISM IN LAKE TANA REGION, ETHIOPIA –
POTENTIALS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
COMMUNITY-BASED ECOTOURISM
Diplomarbeit
Presented by
Christian Sefrin
Supervised by
Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Bohle
March, 2012
Geographisches Institut der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Bonn
ECOTOURISM IN LAKE TANA REGION, ETHIOPIA –
POTENTIALS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
COMMUNITY-BASED ECOTOURISM
Diplomarbeit
Presented by
Christian Sefrin
Supervised by
Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Bohle
March, 2012
Erklärung
Ich versichere, dass ich die Arbeit selbstständig verfasst habe, dass ich keine anderen
Quellen und Hilfsmittel als die angegebenen benutzt und die Stellen der Arbeit, die
anderen Werken dem Wortlaut oder dem Sinn nach entnommen sind, in jedem Fall als
Entlehnung kenntlich gemacht habe. Das gleiche gilt auch für beigegebene
Zeichnungen, Kartenskizzen und Abbildungen.
Bonn, den 20.03.2012
Christian Sefrin
Pictures at the front cover:
Nile Falls in Tis Abay; paintings in Ura Kidane Mehret
monastery, Zege Peninsula; birds on traditional papyrus boat (tankwa) at lakeshore
near Zege village (from left to right)
Acknowledgements
This study was only made possible by the great support of a large number of people. I
would in particular like to thank my amazing research assistant Tesfaye Minalhegn
graduate student from Bahir Dar University in Risk and Disaster Management for his
tireless commitment during our three-month research. I learnt a lot from our exchange
of ideas and got valuable insights into the Ethiopian culture(s) far beyond the purpose of
the study.
Therefore, I also want to thank the people in Ura, Yiganda, Tis Abay and Yemoshit
kebeles for sharing so much time with us in the group discussions.
Special thanks go to Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Bohle for his supervision and advice
throughout the research process in Germany. Furthermore, I thank Prof. Dr. Sabine
Tröger for her encouragement to work and live in Ethiopia over the last years. Without
her, I would have never developed such a knowledge about and enthusiasm for this
country.
For all their high commitment and willingness to comment and cross-read this thesis
special thanks go to my friends Soija Schmitz, Johanna Kramm, Martin Fütterer, Johann
Müller and Julia Pfitzner.
I am very thankful for my family, Rosemarie, Otto-Gerd and Oliver Sefrin, for their
unending moral support, understanding and empathy throughout all of my studies.
Moreover, I am grateful to Berhanu Gebre and other staff from the regional Bureau of
Culture, Tourism and Parks Development for their logistical research support and
exchange of ideas and the Michael Succow Foundation, emphasizing in particular
Friedrich zur Heide, for his textual advices and his forcing to participate in the Lake
Tana biosphere reserve project. Otherwise I would never have had the possibility to
meet all the wonderful people, I call friends now. Thanks for an amazing time in
Ethiopia go to Teowdroes Kassahun, Kumneger Adane, Maxi Springsguth, Renée
Moreaux, Fanny Mundt, Riu and Isabel Lohri-Lukunic and their two sweet children
Yatri and Mitja.
Table of Content
i
Table of Content
List of Figures................................................................................................................. iii
List of Tables .................................................................................................................. iii
List of Boxes ................................................................................................................... iii
List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... iv
Conversion of Currencies............................................................................................... v
Preface: The Confusion between the Terms ‘Ecotourism’ and ‘Sustainable
Tourism’ ............................................................................................................... 1
1
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2
1.1
Sustainable Tourism: A significant Tourism Industry? ......................................... 2
1.2
Research Motivation and Cognitive Interest ......................................................... 4
1.3
Structure of the Study ............................................................................................ 6
2
Tourism and Development.................................................................................. 7
2.1
Tourism: A Definition ........................................................................................... 7
2.2
The Relationship between Tourism and the Age of Development........................ 8
2.3
The Concept of Sustainable Development .......................................................... 10
2.4
Effects of Tourism in Developing Countries....................................................... 12
3
Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework .................. 16
3.1
Tourism Research and Geography ...................................................................... 16
3.2
Sustainable Tourism: Contribution to a Sustainable Development ..................... 17
3.2.1 Ecotourism ........................................................................................................... 20
3.2.2 Community-based Ecotourism ............................................................................ 22
3.3
How does Tourism function? .............................................................................. 26
3.3.1 The Tourism System............................................................................................ 26
3.3.2 Theory of Access and Tourism............................................................................ 29
3.4
Analytical Framework ......................................................................................... 31
4
Methodology ....................................................................................................... 34
4.1
Qualitative Research Concept ............................................................................. 34
4.2
Selection of Research Sites and Interview Partners ............................................ 35
4.3
Methods ............................................................................................................... 37
Table of Content
ii
4.3.1
4.3.2
4.3.3
4.3.4
Secondary Sources Analysis ................................................................................ 37
Participatory Rural Appraisal .............................................................................. 37
Semi-structured Expert Interview ........................................................................ 41
Informal Talks ..................................................................................................... 41
4.4
Logging, Data Editing and Analysis ................................................................... 42
4.5
Limits of Research ............................................................................................... 42
5
Results from the empirical Case Studies ......................................................... 44
5.1
Lake Tana Region as a Scope of Reference for Tourism Development ............. 44
5.1.1 Ecological and socio-cultural Backgrounds ........................................................ 44
5.1.2 Macro-economic, political and technological Frame for Tourism ...................... 51
5.2
Local Accesses to Tourism Markets .................................................................... 56
5.2.1 The Case of the Souvenir Vendors ...................................................................... 56
5.2.2 The Case of local Tour Guides ............................................................................ 59
6
Discussion of the Results ................................................................................... 62
6.1
Lake Tana Region: Appropriate Environments for Sustainable Tourism? ......... 62
6.2
Souvenir Vending: A too complex Business in the rural Context? ..................... 65
6.3
The local Tour Guides: Beneficiaries of a low-investment Business.................. 67
6.4
Chances and Risks for CBET in the Face of the Sustainability Criteria of
MOWFORTH and MUNT ........................................................................................ 69
6.4.1 Ecological, social, cultural and economic Sustainability .................................... 69
6.4.2 Education, Participation and Conservation ......................................................... 72
7
A locally adapted Vision for Community-based Ecotourism in Lake
Tana Region ....................................................................................................... 76
8
Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 78
References ....................................................................................................................... vi
Little Amharic Glossary ............................................................................................... xii
Annex A: Tourism Statistics ....................................................................................... xiii
Annex B: Methods ....................................................................................................... xiv
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features .................... xx
List of Figures
iii
List of Figures
Figure 1: The three dimensions of sustainability ............................................................ 11
Figure 2: Ecotourism as a concept for sustainable tourism ............................................ 20
Figure 3: Tourism: a complex system............................................................................. 28
Figure 4: Research analysis framework .......................................................................... 32
Figure 5: Spider Diagram (left) and Network Diagram (right) ...................................... 40
Figure 6: Lake Tana region and research sites ............................................................... 45
Figure 7: Amount of visitors in Bahir Dar 1998 to 2010................................................ 51
Figure 8: Access mapping of individual souvenir vendors and vendor associations ..... 58
Figure 9: Access mapping of local tour guides............................................................... 60
List of Tables
Table 1: The age of development ..................................................................................... 9
Table 2: Positive and negative effects of tourism in the local context ........................... 14
Table 3: Interdisciplinarity in tourism research .............................................................. 17
Table 4: Forms of cultural tourism and their features .................................................... 21
Table 5: PRETTY’s typology of participation .................................................................. 23
Table 6: Structural and relational mechanisms of access ............................................... 30
Table 7: Selected interview partners and method applications....................................... 36
Table 8: Overview of the connection between selected PRA methods, target groups,
research foci and research questions ................................................................... 39
Table 9: Chances and risks for tourism development at research sites .......................... 64
List of Boxes
Box 1: A Critical Review on the Terms ‘Participation’ and ‘Community’ .................... 25
Box 2: A Tourist’s View on the Beauty of Lake Tana Region....................................... 49
List of Abbreviations
iv
List of Abbreviations
ACSI
Amhara Credit and Savings Institute
ANRS
Amhara National Regional State
BoCTPD
Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Parks Development
BR
Biosphere Reserve
CBET
Community-based Ecotourism
CBT
Community-based Tourism
CIA
US Central Intelligence Agency
EED
Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst
Service)
ENA
Ethiopian News Agency
EPLAUA
Environmental Protection, Land Administration and Use Authority
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
GNP
Gross National Product
GTP
Growth and Transformation Planning
IUCN
International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources
LCD’s
Least Developed Countries
NGO
Non-governmental Organisation
MoFED
Ministry of Finance and Economic Development
MoWR
Ministry of Water Resources
MSF
Michael Succow Foundation
MW
Mega Watt
OECD
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PASDEP
Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
PRA
Participatory Rural Appraisal
SNV
Netherlands Development Organisation
TNC
Trans National Company
UNWTO
United Nations World Tourism Organisation
WEF
World Economic Forum
WCED
World Commission on Environment and Development
(German
Church Development
Conversion of Currencies
v
Conversion of Currencies 1
Ethiopian Birr (ETB)
1 ETB ~ 0.04 €
1 € ~ 22.6 ETB
US Dollar
1 ETB ~ 0.06 $
1 $ ~ 17.2 ETB
1 $ ~ 0.76 €
1
http://www.oanda.com/lang/de/currency/converter/ (Date: 11.03.2012)
Preface: The Confusion between the Terms ‘Ecotourism’ and ‘Sustainable Tourism’
Preface: The Confusion between the Terms
‘Ecotourism’ and ‘Sustainable Tourism’
When the paradigm of Sustainable Development took shape in the end of the last
millennium it was picked up by the tourism industry to form a new age of tourism. The
term ‘ecotourism’ was coined to express tourism’s new idea to meet the needs of
sustainability. However, the sustainability debate grew bigger and the requirements to
meet ‘true’ sustainability became very complex just as the new ‘green’ tourism industry.
More and more forms of sustainable tourism mushroomed doubting the unchallenged
claim of ‘ecotourism’ to be the only pathway to fulfil the new development paradigm.
As a result, the overarching term ‘sustainable tourism’ was born and became a large
pool where all these approaches gathered and ‘ecotourism’ melted together with all the
other forms of new tourisms such as agrotourism, community-based tourism, cultural or
ethnic tourism, farm tourism, green tourism, indigenous tourism, life-seeing tourism,
nature tourism, paratourism, responsible tourism, rural tourism, sensible tourism, smallscale tourism, soft tourism to name just a small selection.
Nowadays, international organisations like the UN World Tourism Organisation
(UNWTO) talking of all these forms as ‘sustainable tourism’ describing ‘ecotourism’ as
one of its sub-forms. But from the genesis of the two terms, both they can also be
treated as overarching terminologies. However, other organisations do not make this
strict division using the both terms synonymously.
The title of this study ‘Ecotourism in Lake Tana Region, Ethiopia’ refers to
ecotourism’s collective meaning synonymous with ‘sustainable tourism’, whereas in the
further course of the study ‘ecotourism’ is also described as a sub-form of sustainable
tourism approaches. Thus, the dilemma about the terminology is also not solved.
1
1 Introduction
1
Introduction
1.1
Sustainable Tourism: A significant Tourism Industry?
2
If tourism were a country, it would have the second largest economy, surpassed only by
the United States (TIES 2006: 1). This statement pictures tourism’s economic impact on
the global economy. And according to UNWTO, a constantly (since the 1950’s)
growing tourism industry is soaring towards no ends. More than 980 million
international tourist arrivals in 2011 are expected to reach 1.6 billion by the year 2020
(UNWTO 2012). However, Africa’s share (77 million tourists) will not compete with
Europe (717 million), East Asia (397 million) and the Americas (282 million), but it
will get in line with the Middle East and South Asia scuffling for the fourth position
(UNWTO 2011). But the predicted African annual economic growth rate for tourism of
approximately 5.5% is higher than the growth rate for other private businesses and
"appears to be one of the few economic sectors able to guide a number of developing
countries to higher levels of prosperity and for some to leave behind their leastdeveloped country status" (TIES 2006: 1). LEDBURY (1997: 21) describes tourism as a
soft development option with less market protectionism, low technological and human
resource requirements, positive effects on secondary economic growth, employment and
national income through its multiplier effects. In this sense, tourism development is in
line with international agendas or the Millennium Development Goals, and therefore,
guaranteeing access to international funds.
Certainly, a high demand for tourism exists, but the tourism system is very complex and
capabilities and developments on the supply side and impacts on local actors, ecology
and economy at destinations end should also be considered equivalently. In principle, a
high demand does not constitute a functioning tourism industry at all. Large numbers of
visitors can easily overload the market harming sensitive ecosystems (e.g. through the
overuse of resources, waste disposal, etc.), commercializing traditional cultures or
shaking social values and norms. Especially in the context of tourism in developing
countries capacities and other prerequisites fail to buffer shocks. Considering local
effects, it should be aimed towards “[t]he fostering of appropriate tourism development
in an area [...] [to] allow or facilitate the protection and enhancement of natural, built
1 Introduction
3
and cultural features, providing an environmentally-conscious means of generating
economic growth and enhancing the quality of life of local residents, whilst also giving
the tourist a valuable set of experiences” (HUNTER /GREEN 1995: 169).
This more sustainable understanding for tourism came up in the 1990’s and the term
sustainable tourism was born claiming more responsibility towards nature and culture
(see chapter 3.2). Forms of sustainable tourism such as ecotourism (see chapter 3.2.1)
and community-based tourism (see chapter 3.2.2) are among the sectors expected to
grow most quickly over the next two decades (TIES 2006: 2). Over the last years
‘green’, ‘fair’ or ‘sustainable’ labels have become more important for consumers. In
Europe, 20 to 30% of travellers are aware of needs and values of sustainable tourism, 10
to 20% look for ‘green’ options and 5 to 10% demand ‘green’ holidays (TIES 2006: 2).
In Germany, 65% (39 million) of travellers expect environmental quality and 42% (25
million) “think that it is particularly important to find environmentally-friendly
accommodation” (TIES 2006:2). Nearly half of those surveyed in Britain said they
would be more likely to go with a “company that had a written code to guarantee good
working conditions, protect the environment and support local charities in the tourist
destination” (TIES 2006: 2).
To conclude, these market assessments show the growing demand and relevance of
sustainable forms of tourism in the global tourism industry. Realistic planning in
accordance with the community interests and a socially responsible management of
sustainable tourism projects can definitely be a step towards Sustainable Development
(see chapter 2.3). The political awareness on this topic has been raised, funds are
available and consumers currently look for ‘sustainable’ options but the actual supply is
low.
If we take a look at Ethiopia, endeavours for sustainable tourism development are still
not matured. Although governmental development plans consider tourism as one main
pillar for development (MOFED 2006, 2011) a precise definition of the kind of tourism
development that would be appropriate remains missing. But for the Government of
Ethiopia it is now time to bring the country on the right track for tourism development.
Between 2006 and 2008 international tourist arrivals increased from 290,000 to 330,000
(see also Annex A) and international tourism receipts increased from 162 million to 374
million US Dollars (UNWTO 2009: 9). However, Ethiopia only holds a share of 0.7%
of all African international tourist arrivals and 1.2% of international tourist receipts
1 Introduction
4
(UNWTO 2009: 9). Compared with other African countries the industry is still small
but also malleable to minimize environmental, social and cultural costs and to increase
benefits according to the paradigm of Sustainable Development. Organizations like the
World Bank also predict a high potential for tourism development in Ethiopia (WORLD
BANK 2006). The country’s seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the diversified
topography reaching from the lowest point of the earth’s surface in the Danakil Desert
to the Ethiopian Highlands with some of the highest peaks in Africa or the
overwhelming biodiversity are just some of the manifold potentials contrasting to the
mere ‘safari image’ of many other African countries. Experiencing Ethiopia is an
encounter with fascinating nature and culture, with one of the most outstanding histories
on the continent.
But can tourism development really trigger the achievement of sustainability? If local
structures and interests are not aiming towards all of this, then the strategy can easily
lead to unsustainability. Furthermore, not all destinations will be appropriate for
sustainable tourism development, only because frame conditions are promising.
Especially in developing countries tourism is taking place with many local stakeholders
involved acting towards their own rules and regulations when it comes to all kinds of
developments. Regulation and restructuring will be difficult without a profound
understanding of the local tourism system.
Tourism is not a topic to be conceived at the drawing boards of national or international
political planning organizations without any linkages and knowledge about the local
context. These specific conditions need to be considered for developing ways of adapted
tourism, rather than following international agendas and glittering and promising
concepts. Therefore, this geographical tourism study is more than the mere listing of
optimistic statistics to support political agendas. Rather, it will give an insight into two
tourist destinations around Lake Tana and questions their potential for a prospective
sustainable tourism development.
1.2
Research Motivation and Cognitive Interest
As already pointed out, tourism is an emerging sector with an increasing number of
people travelling to Ethiopia over the last years. The government of Ethiopia has
discovered the economic value of tourism and is trying to push the country to one of
Africa’s leading tourist destinations up to 2020 aiming at poverty eradication in one of
1 Introduction
5
the poorest countries in the world. International donors support this idea with millions
of Euros. Buzzwords like sustainability and local participation are integrated in tourism
development proposals, documents and guidelines, but tourism as a very complex
system by itself becomes even more difficult to manage with higher ecological and
socio-cultural standards. It is highly questionable whether this is viable within such a
short period of time.
During two visits and work stays between 2008 and 2010, the author observed fast
changes in tourism destinations all over the country. Large national or international
investors build tourism infrastructure in various destinations with low local participation
and small economic benefits for local communities. As a consequence locals develop
their own strategies to get a share of the visitors’ capital. These unstructured and
unorganized forms of tourism hassle visitors and reduce the intercultural encounter.
Tourists quickly become irritated as villagers come running them trying to sell
handcrafts or offering their guiding services. Tourists thereby get the impression of
being reduced to ‘cash cows’ for the locals.
Ethiopia’s tourism value is based on its natural and cultural attractions, but only a few
projects meet ecological or socio-cultural standards. The consciousness that
environmental, but also socio-cultural changes can destroy the basis of tourism seems to
be low. Tourism development triggers its own dynamics irrespective of sustainability
criteria. Landscapes and cultures change their shape, whereas at the same time their
pristine preservation would be the most valuable capital for a successful tourism
development. Therefore, the only way towards a long-term sustainable tourism for the
people of Ethiopia are forms of tourism preserving nature and culture.
In Ethiopia, knowledge and experience with such kind of sustainable tourism are low
and further research on the suitability of sustainable tourism concepts is necessary to
adapt them into the individual context of tourism destinations. Therefore, the author
wants to generate knowledge for the implementation of the Community-based
Ecotourism (CBET) approach, as one form of sustainable tourism, in the Lake Tana
Region in North-Western Ethiopia. A successful implementation requires specific
destination and community potentials and capabilities. Communities are not the same
all over the world which consequently means that not all communities have the potential
for CBET. Some have the capacity to take charge of running a project, some do not.
Some communities simply are not situated in locations that are appropriate for
1 Introduction
6
ecotourism development. In this context, the author analyses destination and community
potentials at two research sites around Lake Tana and asks for chances and risks coming
along with a prospective conversion to CBET sites.
1.3
Structure of the Study
Besides the introduction, this study contains seven further chapters. The chapter 2
defines the term tourism, links the development debate with it and provides general
information about the concept of sustainability. Furthermore, side effects of tourism in
developing countries are discussed. The chapter 3 sets the theoretical and conceptual
backgrounds beginning with the introduction into the sustainable tourism debate and a
definition of the analysed Community-based Ecotourism approach. The functionality of
the tourism system is explained with the tourism system of STRASDAS, STECK and
GUSTEDT (1999) and the ‘Theory of Access’ by RIBOT and PELUSO (2003) is introduced
as a new theoretical basement for an analysis of the tourism system leading to the
analytical framework of the study. The chapter 4 describes and justifies the
methodological approach. Qualitative research methods build the foundation of the
research and are critically reflected in the context of the research questions. A detailed
report of the empirical results from the two case studies is given in the chapter 5
describing ecological, socio-cultural, macro-economical, political and technological
endowments in the Lake Tana region and access mechanisms of tourism suppliers.
Then, this is followed by a discussion of the results in chapter 6 unfolding problems and
potentials of the status quo of tourism in the Lake Tana region and in the end, an
analysis of the chances and risks for an implementation of the Community-based
Ecotourism approach in the scope of sustainability criteria is done. The Chapter 7 then
develops a locally-adapted tourism vision for Lake Tana region on the base of the
research results and the chapter 8 closes with general conclusions of the research.
2 Tourism and Development
2
7
Tourism and Development
Beginning with a definition of tourism, this chapter links tourism with the development
debate since the 1960s. Then, the concept of Sustainable Development, as an important
foundation for this study, is introduced, and finally, positive and negative effects of
tourism in developing countries are discussed.
2.1
Tourism: A Definition
A very general but widely accepted definition of tourism is the one of the United
Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). “Tourism comprises the activities of
persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more
than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes” (UNWTO 1993). It
contains three major aspects to characterize a trip belonging to tourism which are
overcoming of space, duration of stay and motivation of travel. Overcoming of space
implies that tourism is always related to movements of people from a locality of origin
to a foreign locality, whereas their duration of stay is limited to a maximum period of
one year. The definition also implies the existence of different motivations to do
tourism, and one has to differentiate between leisure trips which clearly belong to
tourism and business trips which can be included, but also excluded, from tourism.
For the purpose of this study the UNWTO definition can be overarching but the three
mentioned aspects need further specification for the research area. In the particular case
of tourism research in a developing country like Ethiopia, the study needs to consider
that overcoming of space brings tourism actors with different cultural as well as
economic backgrounds together. The Lake Tana region is an attractive travel destination
for foreigners, mainly from western countries, as well as for middle or upper-class
Ethiopians doing tourism in a rural context encountering a mainly agricultural society.
Therefore, the study will try to act as a mediator between these divergent groups to
generate knowledge for a kind of tourism development appropriate and accepted by all
actors with low negative impacts on local populations.
The duration of stay at the selected research sites is rather short. Tourism has a day trip
character whereas visitors normally remain in the Lake Tana region for several days
2 Tourism and Development
8
using Bahir Dar as a starting point for their trips. The study will consider this in its
argumentation for CBET developments in the area.
Visitors travel motivations can be both, for the purpose of leisure and business. The
Lake Tana region is rich in natural and cultural highlights and most tourists come to see
them. On the other hand the regional capital city of Bahir Dar, hosting many
governmental bureaus, is also an important business destination. However, the study
only focuses on interests of leisure trippers, because they are the ones most interested in
visiting the cultural and natural heritage in the surroundings of the city.
2.2
The Relationship between Tourism and the Age of
Development
The debate over tourism closely mirrors the development debate since the 1960s (see
Table 1). At that time tourism was seen as a means towards greater modernisation
through economic growth with the side effect that tourism was a reviver and promoter
of culture. The dependency critiques in the late 1960s and early 1970s titled tourism as
a new form of imperialism (TURNER/ASH 1975: 15) and were the first questioning this
industry in developing countries seeing negative effects of tourism at destinations end.
Besides its negative socio-cultural effects, the literature often discusses its negative
economic aspects like high foreign exchange leakage, tourist expenditure creating
inflation at destinations end, etc. (see chapter 2.4). In 1980 the OECD even went so far
to claim that “tourism destroys tourism” (BOO 1990: 12). The Growth of
Environmentalism – beginning with the popular publication ‘Limits to Growth2’
(MEADOWS ET AL. 1972) – forced new development strategies in the context of resource
scarcity. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
(IUCN 1980) was one of the first to bring the idea of sustainability on the agenda. As an
organisation with a vested interest in ecology, it emphasised the physical environment,
and was thus criticised for being anti-developmental. It was the World Commission on
Environment and Development (WCED) which was instrumental in bringing the
politicisation of the environment to centre stage illuminating the structural links
between poverty, international trade, inequality, resource depletion and environmental
2
The 1972 Human Environment Conference in Stockholm was the first international forum where
environmental concerns were aired systematically. In the spirit of this era the publication ‘Limits to
Growth’ demanded radical social and economic change to hinder a collapse of the global economic
system brought about by pollution, overpopulation and resource scarcity.
2 Tourism and Development
9
degradation (WCED 1987). The commission published the Brundtland-Report which
brought the new term of Sustainable Development on the agenda. Finally, the tourism
and development debate led to the integration of tourism into the new paradigm of
sustainability (see chapter 2.3).
Table 1: The age of development
1950s
The age of development
begins
1960s
Modernisation
US President Truman’s message takes effect
Majority of the world is declared
‘underdeveloped’
The Third World is ‘discovered’
Rostow ‘stages of growth’
President declares the ‘development decade’
Latin American dependency theory – as a
counter theory
First UN development decade
1967: Arusha Declaration: Tanzanian self-sufficiency strategy
1970s
Alternative Development
1980s
Neoliberal, free market,
economic growth
Second UN development decade
1974 UN General Assembly: Declaration of
the New International Economic Order
Basic needs and social welfarist (charity)
approach
1975 What Now Dag Hammarskjöld Report
Privatise, liberalise, deregulate
Trickle-down growth
Free market and economic growth
Structural adjustment programmes (SAP’s)
Asian Tiger as development successes?
1987: Brundtland Report: Our Common Future
1990s
Sustainable development
New development ethic – strategy to sustain
‘development’?
International development targets
First UNDP Human Development Report
(1990) with Human Development Index
UN family of mega-conferences (Rio,
Copenhagen, Istanbul, etc.)
Emphasis on grassroots participation,
sustainable livelihoods
Poverty reduction strategies
2 Tourism and Development
2000+
Alternative
Modernisation
10
Poverty elimination as ‘leitmotif’
Primacy of economic growth reasserted
UN family of mega-conferences part II
Single path development
Discourse of participation and partnership
Poverty reduction strategy papers (to replace
SAP’s)
Localisation and globalisation agenda
Security issues
Millennium Development Goals
Source: own conception, adapted from MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 33
2.3
The Concept of Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development is a popular and important concept, but also one that is open
to a variety of interpretations. In the context of several milestones like the Brundtland
Report which was published in 1987, the Rio Conference in 1992 and the UN World
Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg, the axiom of
sustainability became popular in many socio-political contexts and seemed to be
appropriate to support the full spectrum of development agendas. On the one hand, the
term became part of the “ideology of the New World Order3” (M OWFORTH/M UNT 2009:
83) but on the other hand it was criticized as a meaningless “metafix that will unite
everybody from the profit-minded industrialist and risk minimizing subsistence farmer
to the equity-seeking social worker, the pollution-concerned or wildlife-loving First
Worlder, the growth-maximizing bureaucrat, and therefore the vote-counting
politician” (LELE 1991, cited from LEDBURY 1997: 28). Sustainability describes an
optimum situation of common life at present and in the future throughout the
harmonization of its three classic dimensions (see Figure 1) but concrete
implementation approaches are difficult or even unrealistic.
The Brundtland Report defines Sustainable Development as “[d]evelopment that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs” (WCED 1987: 43). Hence, the concept claims the desire for
intergenerational equity, whereas generally three dimensions are considered (see Figure
1)
3
The term describes a ‘new’ consumerism which is mainly oriented with sustainability. The two notions
have developed hand in hand to give mass consumption a more acceptable justification to the new
middle classes who can afford to consider sustainability (MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 83).
2 Tourism and Development
11
The concept is based on
social, economic as well as
ecological interrelations and
the single dimensions cannot
be considered in an isolated
way. One can only talk about
Sustainable Development, if
each
dimension
appropriate
has
degree
an
of
efficiency. But what kind of
efficiency
is
appropriate?
HEIN (1997a: 387) questions
that “[i]n practice, it is highly
likely that particular aspects of
the concept of sustainable
Figure 1: The three dimensions of sustainability
(own conception, adapted from WCED 1987)
development will be emphasized, at the expense of others, according to different needs,
priorities and attitudes.” Due to the diverging interpretation of each dimension the
concept becomes unwieldy for practical use and different grades of efficiency for
sustainability exist.
PEARCE (1993) developed a scale on different forms of sustainability, whereas ‘very
weak sustainability’ is one extreme with a “resource exploitative, growth-oriented view,
where the primary policy objective is to increase the GNP. The environment is regarded
as being of instrumental value to humans; limits to resource use will be overcome by the
use of technology to ensure sustainability” (LEDBURY 1997: 29). The other extreme
‘strong sustainability’ “takes an extreme preservationist position. It demands not just
zero economic growth but a reduction in scale in both economic activity and
population. Nature is regarded as having intrinsic value regardless of human
experience, with no obligation to provide any services or functions” (LEDBURY 1997:
29).
Due to this complexity of the concept of sustainability, this study cannot claim to
provide knowledge for a fully sustainable tourism development, but it will try to draw a
realistic image of local realities giving examples unfolding this complexity.
Prospectively, tourism planners can work with these insights to develop tourism
approaches which are more sustainable.
2 Tourism and Development
2.4
12
Effects of Tourism in Developing Countries
While we are talking about tourism as an industry with the possibility to contribute to
the paradigm of Sustainable Development, we must not forget its effects. Especially in
the developing country context negative effects can have very shattering consequences
for local populations than positive effects can compensate.
The tourism industry “incorporates a range of stakeholders, including governments, the
private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), communities and tourists. The
common denominator of these stakeholders is that they all involve human agency and
behaviour” (HILL/GALE 2009: 17). Thus, stakeholder (inter)actions will always feed
back to natural, socio-cultural and economical environments in tourism localities.
International organisations see tourism in the LCD’s (Least Developed Countries) as an
effective instrument for poverty alleviation and integration in the world economy
(VORLAUFER 2003: 5). Especially income generation and employment are the augural
terms used to promote this sector. Furthermore, tourism can increase foreign exchange
cash flows and in the long run the economic growth can allay spatial and social
disparities. The problem with all these impacts is their measurability and that statements
are always controvertible. But beyond economic aspects, tourism also influences social,
cultural and ecological systems.
Obviously, the visit of tourists comes along with foreign exchange effects but not all
inbound tourism cash flows will impact the national economy of the tourist destination
country. In general, impacts are bigger in countries with a low import independency
whereas in developing countries net foreign-exchange effects remain low due to the
high import rates and outbound cash flows. No studies about trickle down effects are
known for Ethiopia, but other examples for countries in Africa (EED 2007, VORLAUFER
2003) show that normally less than 15% flow into national economy.
In general, tourism is interlinked with various other primary and secondary sectors in
the national economy. On the job market these effects are tangible. Tourism industries
generate direct employment as well as in other sectors where tourism industry creates
demands. Especially in developing countries tourism revenues can support people in
sustaining their livelihoods, women can be empowered by contributing to household
incomes, unemployed people will be able to escape poverty and out-migration from
rural areas to cities can be stemmed. But a common problem in many tourist
destinations is their seasonal character. During low seasons job opportunities and
2 Tourism and Development
13
revenues are decreasing. Ethiopia as a tropical country has two rainy seasons throughout
the year which leads to declining tourist arrivals due to inaccessibility of some
attractions throughout the country. Furthermore, other factors can change having direct
impacts on tourism markets. Political upheavals, natural disasters or humanitarian
catastrophes could be some of the possible threats for tourism development in a country
like Ethiopia. Local and regional economies must be diversified to compensate these
shocks, so that tourism industry is not primarily shaping local and regional economies.
However, these risks cannot be eliminated and together with high start-up investments
entrance into the tourism industry remains a risky undertaking for poorer actors.
Other backward linkages can be drawn to the agrarian or other productive sectors.
Tourists increase the demand for goods like comestibles or arts and crafts. This can be a
possibility for local enterprises and farming households to generate new markets for
their products and in addition to that, value chain development of singular products can
increase incomes of people due to higher profit margins of products. On the other hand
this can also lead to shortage of goods and increasing of prices with consequences
especially for communities in developing countries. Influences on regional economic
structures reach even further than balancing social disparities. In some cases tourism
can also help to allay spatial discrepancies and raise conflicts within or between
communities. Infrastructure developments (roads, telecommunication, water supply and
sewage disposal, health) can be positive effects of tourism developments but widely
criticised is their orientation towards the demand of tourists (SCHMUDE/NAMBERGER
2010: 96).
Besides the already mentioned positive and negative effects for the communities,
tourism and, especially community-based tourism approaches, can encourage local
institutional developments. In the optimal case, locals obtain the full control and
responsibility for what is done in village homelands and what happens to resources
used. On the other hand, there is always the risk that local tourism industry is controlled
by outsiders (e.g. Government, private businesses, NGO’s) hindering community
developments, empowerment and involvement.
The intercultural exchange through tourism can increase knowledge of communities.
Practical, traditional or scientific knowledge can provide the possibility that
communities demonstrate great commitment for resource or waste management or
conservation of biodiversity, nature and culture. Whilst on the other hand, the
2 Tourism and Development
14
permanent presence of visitors in combination with some misbehaviour can also lead to
a mere commercialisation of local cultures or increase frustration of the communities.
Processes of acculturation can further lead to a breakdown of social values. Sometimes
communities lack the capabilities to understand and prevent all these negative effects on
their community life and therefore, investments and offers for tourism trainings and
workshops are a necessary proceeding. Otherwise, tourism can lead to undesirable
developments like fast societal changes or overcrowding with tourists leading to vast
consequences for cultures, physical environments, ecosystems and natural resources at
tourism sights.
Previewing at the local focus of this study, Table 2 also illustrates the manifold positive
and negative effects of tourism with a specific focus on the local context.
Table 2: Positive and negative effects of tourism in the local context
Advantages – the positive scenario
Limitations and disadvantages – the
negative scenario
Concerning local development
Provision of a significant number of jobs
for local people especially for young people
and women, which can alleviate rural
poverty
Community income
Business opportunities
Acquisition of practical skills
Provision of associated infrastructure
(roads, telephone, water, power)
Institutional development
Reinforces cultural pride of marginalized
ethnic groups
Stemming the out-migration from rural
areas to cities
Local control and responsibility for what is
done in village homelands and what
happens to resources used by the
communities
Education for younger people in both
traditional knowledge and western science,
and education of the outside world about
community goals and ways of living
A ‘bad deal’ for communities
Limited investment in training
Risky investment
Infrastructure only for tourists, not
residents
Control by outsiders (Government,
Business sector, NGO’s)
Local conflicts exacerbated, especially
with neighbouring villages who do not
benefit from tourism in the same region
2 Tourism and Development
15
Concerning economic growth
Greater local income
Stimulation of local economy, with a strong
multiplier effect into agriculture and other
local activities
Economic diversification, particularly in
rural areas, where agricultural employment
is insufficient
Encouraging small and medium enterprises
rooted within the local community
Stressing the importance of responsible
businesses
Unstable demand
Over-dependence
Conflict among members of the
community regarding income
distribution
Increase in the cost of local goods
Leakage of foreign exchange lower
multiplier effects
Underpaid, seasonal jobs
Menial jobs: import of qualified
personnel
Monostructures easily subject to crisis;
replaces traditional land use
Concerning conservation and culture
Promotion of natural resource management
Education of travellers and locals on the
importance of conservation
Improved waste management
Increased/ Improved conservation of
biological diversity, water, forests, cultural
landscapes, monuments, etc.
Preservation and enhancement of cultural
values
Revival of local traditions and crafts
Sharing of cultural knowledge and
experience can be beneficial for hosts and
guests
Enhanced income to help pay for the
preservation of archaeological sites,
historic buildings, and districts
Over-use of natural resources
Insufficient benefits, narrowlydistributed, and not visibly linked to
conservation of the resource base
Rapid development, over-development,
and overcrowding can forever change
the physical environment and
ecosystems of an area; sensitive areas
and habitat may be lost
Litter and water problems
Capacity and other prerequisites lacking
Sexual exploitation and drug abuse
Breakdown of social values, cultures
and norms
Commercialises traditional cultures
Detrimental effects to the global climate
from air traffic
Source: own conception, adapted from HÄUSLER/STRASDAS 2003: 9; STRASDAS
2002: 7
To conclude, as this chapter shows, tourism is like a fire. We can cook on it but at the
same time we can burn our house. However, stopping tourism development, because of
its negative effects will also prevent all the positive ones and especially in a world
where tourism became a new life style and is present in the remotest areas in the Third
World, strategies for an appropriate tourism development need to be processed.
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
3
16
Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical
Framework
This chapter sets the conceptual and theoretical backgrounds for the empirical part of
this study. First, the relevance of tourism research in geography and strengths of this
geographical tourism research will be discussed (chapter 3.1), followed by the
introduction and definition of sustainable tourism in general (chapter 3.2). Then, the
chapters 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 will give a detailed definition of ecotourism and Communitybased Ecotourism (CBET), as the major approach of interest in this study.
Second, as the study focuses on the critical analysis of tourism, a more detailed
understanding of the functionality of tourism is necessary. Therefore, the chapter 3.3
introduces the tourism system of STECK, S TRASDAS and GUSTEDT (1999) as a concept
making functionality of tourism more tangible. Furthermore, the ‘Theory of Access’ by
RIBOT and PELUSO (2003) is introduced and linked to the tourism system approach of
STECK, S TRASDAS and GUSTEDT, as a new theoretical basement for an analysis and
understanding of tourism. The Chapter 3.4, then, links all concepts to the analytical
framework of the study.
3.1
Tourism Research and Geography
Tourism can be seen as an interdisciplinary object of research where economic, social,
political, environmental and geo sciences as well as jurisprudence work together
(SCHMUDE/NAMBERGER 2010: 4f). Specific foci of the individual disciplines are listed
in Table 3. In this sense, tourism can be seen as a “focal lens through which broader
[interdisciplinary] considerations can be taken into account” (M OWFORTH/MUNT 2009:
2) Therefore, tourism research can also be concerned with “conceptualising the forces
which impact on tourism, and through an analysis of this forces, providing of a broader
context for understanding tourism” (M OWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 2).
Geography as an interdisciplinary research discipline offers a wide range of techniques
to achieve a more holistic understanding of tourism. “Although over-simplifying, we
could characterise the ‘geography of tourism’ as being primarily concerned with: the
description of travel flows; microscale spatial structure and land use of tourist places
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
17
and facilities; economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts of tourist activity;
impacts of tourism in third world countries; geographic patterns of recreation and
leisure pastimes; and the planning implications of all these topics. [...] These are vital
elements of the study of travel and tourism. But these sections are dealt within
descriptive and weakly theorised ways” (BRITTON 1991: 451, cited from
MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 2).
Table 3: Interdisciplinarity in tourism research
Discipline
Research foci
economic science
analysis of tourism markets
analysis of social class specific or individual travel
social science
political science
requirements & attitudes
analysis of political or governmental influences on
tourism
analysis of spatial and mutual relationships between
environmental & geo science
tourism actors, activities and environment as well as
changes in the environment
jurisprudence
analysis of legal questions
Source: own conception, after SCHMUDE/NAMBERGER 2010: 4
As a result, this study will analyse tourism in the Lake Tana region in a less descriptive
and more theorised way to generate important knowledge for prospective tourism
developments. Therefore, the study considers the multidisciplinary scope of tourism,
importing concepts from tourism research and theory from other disciplines as well as
political, socio-cultural, technological, ecological and macro-economic conditions in the
Lake Tana region and Ethiopia.
3.2
Sustainable Tourism: Contribution to a Sustainable
Development
Tourism as part of a global economy also adapted the established Sustainable
Development paradigm (see chapter 2.3). “Sustainable tourism development can be
thought of as meeting the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting
and enhancing opportunity for the future.[...]Sustainable tourism development is
envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such way that we can fulfil
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
18
economic, social and aesthetic needs while maintaining cultural integrity, essential
ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems” (TOURISM STREAM
ACTION COMMITTEE 1990, cited from LEDBURY 1997: 30).
As LEDBURY (1997: 30) rightly points out the focus of the definition is on
intergenerational but not on intragenerational equity. Brundtland “makes no distinction
between developed and developing country needs” (LEDBURY 1997: 30) forgetting that
the former is about satisfying luxurious consumer wants and the latter about basic
needs. However, the similarities to the Brundtland definition are striking and in the
1990s the discourse on sustainability was gradually translated into concepts for
sustainable tourism.
Over the years, dozens of different names mushroomed in the tourism industry, all
emphasising their difference from common forms of mass tourism. “The prescribed
strategies have variously been known as agrotourism, appropriate tourism, communitybased tourism, controlled tourism, cottage tourism, cultural or ethnic tourism,
ecotourism, farm tourism, green tourism, indigenous tourism, life-seeing tourism,
nature tourism, paratourism, responsible tourism, rural tourism, sensible tourism,
small-scale tourism, soft tourism, and sustainable tourism; the list is still growing, with
'no tourism' even named as an alternative by itself" (JAFARI 2001: 31). Therefore,
sustainable tourism can be seen as an umbrella spanning over all these forms of ‘New
Tourism’ (MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009) coming up in the sustainability discourse of the
1990s. Some of the front-runners became the terms ecotourism and community-based
tourism (MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 99f).
But what all of these forms have in common is their intension to work towards a
sustainable future by defining sustainability in a wider way appropriate to an optimal
tourism development. MOWFORTH and MUNT (2009: 101ff) list the following principles
for sustainable tourism development: cultural, social, environmental and economic
sustainability as well as aid to conservation, participation of locals and education. Each
component has its specific meaning:
Ecological sustainability: minimising the environmental impacts of
tourist activities;
Social sustainability: created disharmonies at destinations end through
tourism can be alleviated or mitigated in the short and long-term;
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
19
Cultural sustainability: refers to the ability to retain or adapt elements of
their culture which distinguish them from other people. Processes of
transculturation4 through the introduction of visitors different habits,
styles, customs and means of exchange are inevitable and need to be
managed in a way that no culture is dominant;
Economic sustainability: refers to a level of economic gain which can
cover the additional costs of tourism and brings income for the locals;
Educational element: gives a greater understanding to tourists as well as
locals of how our natural and human environment works. For the latter,
this can also enhance local empowerment over tourism activities;
Local participation: to create ownership of local people for the
implemented activities. However, the degree of participation can differ.
PRETTY categorises six different types of participation (see Table 5);
Conservation element: tourism should assist in the conservation of
specific aspects of the biodiversity or culture of a given area.
MÜLLER (2007: 26) defines sustainability in tourism slightly different. He claims
cultural diversity, nature and resource conservation, subjective well-being, customer
satisfaction and economic prosperity under the assumption that future generations still
have the possibility to satisfy their needs as the main principles for sustainable tourism
development.
This study analyses chances and risks for the implementation of the concept of
Community-based Ecotourism (CBET) which claims to be one form of ‘New Tourism’
respecting these sustainability criteria. For a further understanding of the CBET
approach the following chapters 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 divide it into its two components –
‘eco’ and ‘community-based’ – and define them in more detail.
4
The term was coined by the Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz in 1940 to describe the phenomenon
of merging and converging cultures. Transculturation encompasses more than transition from one
culture to another; it does not consist merely of acquiring another culture (acculturation) or of losing
or uprooting a previous culture (deculturation). Rather, it merges these concepts and additionally
carries the idea of the consequent creation of new cultural phenomena (neoculturation) (ORTIZ 1995:
102f)
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
20
3.2.1 Ecotourism
Nowadays, the term ‘ecotourism’ is omnipresent everywhere in global tourism. In a
market primarily demanded by the west where ‘green’ products experienced a boom
over the last years, it became a buzzword which sells good and can bring higher
revenues for tourism industry. Tour operators offer ‘eco-friendly’ activities and ‘green
labelled’ companies are universal, whereas coevally explicit guidelines and principles
are missing. Thus, the term remains unspecific in tourism industry as well as in
research. The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism very general as
“responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the
well-being of local people” (TIES 1990). It can be questioned if tourism can conserve
nature and social well-being, but hence, ecotourism is differing from nature tourism
which is “primarily concerned with the direct enjoyment of some relatively undisturbed
phenomenon of nature” (VALENTINE 1992: 108). Nature tourism is “a factual
description of a certain market segment regardless of its impacts” (STRASDAS 2002: 6)
and ecotourism can be seen as another with various principles.
But scientists are arguing about the ‘right’ principles. FENNELL (2001) identifies 85
different ecotourism definitions and WEAVER and LAWTON (2007) also describe a
universal definition as a distant prospect, but see an emerging consensus on certain
“value-based dimensions such as conservation, ethics, sustainability, education and
community benefits” (WEAVER/LAWTON 2007: 1169).
This study works with the definition of WOOD (2002) which meets most mentioned
dimensions defining ecotourism as “environmentally responsible travel and visitation to
relatively
undisturbed
areas, in order to enjoy and
appreciate nature (and any
accompanying
cultural
features – both past and
present)
that
conservation,
promotes
has
low
negative visitor impact, and
Figure 2: Ecotourism as a concept for sustainable
tourism (STRASDAS 2002: 6)
provides for beneficially
active
involvement
socio-economic
of
local
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
21
populations” (WOOD 2002: 9). It also adds cultural characteristics of a tourism
destination to the ecotourism definition This is adequate due to the increasing intention
of tourists, especially when travelling abroad into the ‘unknown’, to encounter diverse
traditions, customs and cultures. In this context enjoyment of culture and nature are
coequal and should be considered for ecotourism product development. Further
specifications on cultural features to be integrated into the concept of ecotourism are
listed in Table 4.
As STRASDAS (see Figure 2) also points out, nature, rural and cultural tourism are not
contrary approaches, rather they can be merged together to one single ecotourism
approach as a part of overarching sustainable tourism approaches.
Table 4: Forms of cultural tourism and their features
Form of tourism
Features
Historical/archaeological tourism
Historic monuments, ruins, excavations
Ethnic tourism
Traditional/ indigenous communities and their folklore,
buildings, livelihoods, handcrafts, shrines
Rural estates, interesting villages, cultural landscapes and
Rural tourism (agro-tourism)
farming activities (e.g. rice terraces), horseback riding (or
on other animals such as camels)
Travel oriented toward learning Courses and workshops (music, handcrafts, languages,
and education
natural medicine, etc.)
Traditional places of pilgrimage, monasteries and other
Religious/ esoteric tourism
sacred places, traditional ceremonies/ healing, meditation
centres, etc.
Environmental, agricultural (especially organic farming),
Project-based forms of tourism
forestry, or social projects, mainly in conjunction with
non-governmental DC
Health tourism, summer resorts
Thermal or mineral baths, cool mountainous areas in
tropical countries
Source: STRASDAS 2002: 33 (slightly altered), based on VORLAUFER 1997
To conclude, the term ecotoursim does not only describe a mere market segment, but
also a set of desired outcomes. This includes environmental and socio-cultural
compatibility, creation of benefits for nature conservation projects (co-financing) and
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
22
for local people (participation, creation and widespread distribution of income).
Furthermore, creation of environmental awareness and more acceptance of nature
conservation as a viable and appropriate land use (among tourists and other
stakeholders) are other core aspects.
3.2.2 Community-based Ecotourism
In combination with the term ‘community-based’, ecotourism gets a slightly different
and extended meaning. Community-based approaches in different sectors become a
commonly used concept in development cooperation. Their focus is less business
orientated and local involvement is higher.
In general, all kinds of sustainable forms of tourism can also be implemented in a
community-based way e.g. ecotourism. Terms like poverty eradication, nature
conservation and local empowerment are mainly listed when it comes to promoting the
necessity of Community-based Ecotourism (CBET) development. But such positive
outputs do not come along with any measures. They require a precisely formulated
conception. As with the term ecotourism, CBET also means different things to different
people and needs to be clarified for the purpose of this study.
‘Community-based’ implies that “a significant number of local people [have]
substantial control over, and involvement in [tourism] development and management”
(HÄUSLER/STRASDAS 2003: 3). A specific feature of CBET approaches is that capitalist
business thinking is replaced by a more socially responsible strategy. Not only that
CBET tries to organise tourism on a small scale to capacitate local communities, but
also tries to establish some forms of benefits for those who are not directly involved in
tourism enterprises (e.g. community fund, multiplier effects) (HÄUSLER/STRASDAS
2003: 3). Further goals of CBET are defined by HÄUSLER and STRASDAS (2003: 3f):
Any form of tourism activity should remain a side-income and
traditional economic activities should never be replaced. This can
produce more diversified and shock resistant livelihoods;
CBET includes education and interpretation (for locals as well as for
tourists). This can be a chance for awareness creation on conservation
and biodiversity;
It is generally, but not exclusively, organized for small groups by small,
specialized and locally owned businesses;
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
23
It minimises negative impacts on the natural and socio-cultural
environment;
It supports the protection of natural areas by generating economic
benefits for the management of these areas. CBET creates opportunities
for training and technical assistance, and should develop the capability of
communities to manage marketing, sales and financial income. Besides
setting up educational facilities (e.g. museums, interpretive trails,
botanical garden) and other attractions, the community should be able to
develop and adjust its tourism programme independently after a few
years.
Table 5: PRETTY’s typology of participation
Typology
Characteristics of each type
Passive participation
People participate by being told what has been
decided or has already happened. Information being
shared belongs only to external professionals.
People participate by being consulted or by answering
questions. Process does not concede any share in
decision-making, and professionals are under no
obligation to take on board people’s views.
People participate in return for food, cash or other
material incentives. Local people have no stake in
prolonging technologies or practices when the
incentives end.
Participation is seen by external agencies as a means
to achieve their goals, especially reduced costs. People
participate by forming groups to meet predetermined
objectives.
People participate in joint analysis, development of
action plans and formation or strengthening of local
groups or institutions. Learning methodologies used to
seek multiple perspectives and groups determine how
available resources are used.
People participate by taking initiatives independently
of external institutions to change systems. They
develop contacts with external institutions to change
systems. They develop contacts with external
institutions for resources and technical advice they
need, but retain control over resource use.
Participation by
consultation
Bought participation
Functional participation
Interactive participation
Self-mobilisation and
connectedness
Source: MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 229, adapted from PRETTY/HINE 1999
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
24
Obviously, such kind of CBET planning, development and management presupposes
capabilities of local actors such as planning skills, business orientation as well as social
development affinity and knowledge (HÄUSLER/STRASDAS 2003: 7). The existence of
such skills must be closely considered before implementing a project. Depending on the
manifestation of these skills the degree of local participation can be weakened although
CBET aims towards a very active local involvement.
There are two meanings of participation in CBET. First, there is political participation
which means empowering people to “conduct the entire planning process by
themselves, make their own decisions and implement them independently” (STRASDAS
2002: 32). Second, CBET claims economical participation in an international business
taking part in localities with minimal economic benefits for the locals leaving them
alone with a plenty of negative impacts. But the “ideal [of political participation] runs
into numerous problems, particularly with tourism development, which is complex and
demanding and requires skills that rural people in developing countries usually do not
have. Therefore, depending on the circumstances, local participation in ecotourism
planning may have to be limited to basic political decision-making (Do we want tourism
or not? How do we want to get involved?) and to a passive reception of benefits (e.g.
through receiving a share of entrance fees as a compensation) (STRASDAS 2002: 32).
As this quotation shows, the degree of local involvement or participation can differ
from more passive to active forms. Six classic categories of participation by PRETTY are
described in Table 5.
To conclude, the CBET approach is an extension of ecotourism focussing on a more
active form of local participation. It theoretically claims to fulfil all of the seven
sustainability criteria of MOWFORTH and MUNT (ecological sustainability, social
sustainability, cultural sustainability, economic sustainability, educational element, local
participation, conservation element) (see chapter 3.2). Therefore, it became a popular
approach in development practice, although harmonization is a difficult – if not an
unsolvable – undertaking. Furthermore, the terms ‘community’ and ‘participation’ are
also difficult to grasp and implement (see Box 1). Hence, this study will analyse
chances and risks for CBET implementation in the Lake Tana region.
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
25
Box 1: A Critical Review on the Terms ‘Participation’ and ‘Community’
Participation
The term became closely linked to the concepts of sustainability and development.
‘New’ tourism approaches also promote it but its practical implementation is
difficult. Certainly, participation is no panacea leading to self-determined
sustainable tourism developments.
Undoubtedly, participation can be regarded as an inherently positive force of
change and development, but “it has become fashionable for conservationists to
talk about ‘consulting’ local people [...] This looks good on the paper, but [is]
hardly a substitute for land ownership rights and self-determination” (SURVIVAL
INTERNATIONAL 1996). However, the positive intention often relies on an uncritical
manner of conceptualising and practicing participation and the oblivion of the
existence of structures of power (and politics) influencing local patterns of agency.
Thus, participatory techniques only represent an act with participants performing,
distinct, contrived roles and practitioners or facilitators acting as “stage managers
or directors who guide, and attempt to delimit” (KOTHARI 2001: 148) the
performance of participants.
As a result, participants may provide the information they believe is required to
secure support and manipulate interpretations to serve their interests (MOSSE 2001:
16ff) Furthermore, the consideration of relationships of power within communities
and between them and the ‘experts’ is essential. Otherwise, participation is simply
not working, because it has been promoted by the powerful, and is largely
cosmetic, but most ominously because it is used as a hegemonic device too secure
compliance to , and control by existing power structures (TAYLOR 2001: 137).
Community
Many development projects work under the statement that „'community' is usually
assumed to be equated with the presence of a set of common social characteristics
and goals held by a population residing in a local area" (RICHARDS/HALL 2000:
302). But this set of social characteristics varies geographically, socially,
psychologically and ideologically and in the cyber age there are also virtual
communities which are not bound to spaces anymore (RICHARDS/HALL 2000: 2ff)
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
26
and communities cannot be seen as homogenous units. Furthermore, there are subcommunities with different goals and interests as well as other stakeholders on
regional, national or international level shaping tourism developments.
As a result for CBET, “community is defined by the context they share, like a field
of knowledge, interests, activities, or experiences bound by the community of
people. The context is defined by the community that shares it. Therefore, not only
can members of a village run CBT, but also individuals and initiatives with some
form of organised structure for tourism in a particular area” (HÄUSLER/STRASDAS
2003: 4).
3.3
How does Tourism function?
For the analysis of chances and risks for a successful CBET implementation the
necessity arises to develop a certain understanding of the functionality of the tourism
industry. Therefore, the tourism system of S TECK, STRASDAS and GUSTEDT (1999), as a
concept making functionality of tourism more tangible, is introduced. Furthermore, the
‘Theory of Access’ by RIBOT and PELUSO (2003) is linked to the tourism system
approach of STECK, STRASDAS and GUSTEDT, as a theoretical basement for an analysis
and understanding of tourism.
3.3.1 The Tourism System
A very basic and common model on how tourism functions has been delineated by
STECK, S TRASDAS and GUSTEDT (1999). According to them, “[t]ourism consists of a
highly complex system of activities and services with numerous regional to global
interconnections, also in other economic and social areas. Accordingly, a large number
of players are involved in touristic activities in the various sectors and at just about
every physical level” (STECK/STRASDAS/GUSTEDT. 1999: 14). The application of this
clearly structured and simplified system will help to handle the description and analysis
of tourism for the purpose of this study.
Figure 3 visualises the tourism system, as a system of supply and demand and an
industry scaling from micro to macro levels. In the centre of tourism stands the journey
which means that tourists travel from a source area to a destinations end to participate in
certain activities. Therefore, service promotion on the local level will not suffice for a
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
27
successful implementation. Furthermore, a service chain of a journey crosses national
boundaries and information about these activities needs to reach the customer in the
source area.
As we can see, a functioning tourism system depends on both, consumers demand and
providers supply. The supply side consists of the original (natural & cultural attractions)
as well as the derived (infrastructure, holiday5 & mediating6 facilities) supply
(STECK/STRASDAS/GUSTEDT 1999: 16ff). The main stakeholders involved are the
tourism service providers present on all spatial levels. STECK, STRASDAS and GUSTEDT
(1999: 19) differentiate between the following types of service providing industries:
Tourist industry proper: typical tourist operations offering services that are
exclusively demanded by the traveller (transportation, lodgings, mediating
agencies);
Complementary tourism industry: businesses that are basically not typical for
tourism, but whose offers are especially geared toward travellers as a target
group (e.g. travel guide companies, credit card providers, manufacturers of
handicrafts);
Marginal tourist industries: businesses offering products or services not
specifically for tourists, but that are dependent (year-round or seasonally) on
tourists as their most important target group (e.g. photo industry, filling stations,
grocery stores, doctors);
Suppliers for tourist businesses (e.g. construction companies, food producers).
The demand side (the travellers or clientele) buys the tourism product, whereas their
decision-making process is generally steered by “personal motives, income, availability
of time, mobility, social influences (value systems), etc.” (STECK/STRASDAS/GUSTEDT
1999: 18f). But products will only be demanded if there is an appropriate relationship
between supply and demand. Only if tourists have access to high-quality destination
information they will accept the services provided. Therefore, marketing is a central
instrument but it faces some “peculiarities when compared to other economic
transactions” (STECK/S TRASDAS/GUSTEDT 1999: 18). The tourist product is immovable
which can be seen as an advantage at destinations end, because this can boost economic
5
e.g. accommodations, food, shops, entertainment and other facilities necessary for tourist activities, such
as hiking paths
6
e.g. travel agents, tour operators, tourist information offices
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
28
developments. But on the other hand, a serious effort
effort must be made to convince
customers to purchase the tourism product.
Figure 3: Tourism: a complex system (STECK/S TRASDAS/G USTEDT 1999: 15)
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
29
Besides marketing, tourism policies influence demand and supply as well. Furthermore,
Figure 3 shows further influencing factors like the macroeconomic, political, sociocultural, technological and ecological environment which can have positive and
negative impacts on the tourism system.
As the study, on the one hand, aims on the analysis of local tourism suppliers in the
tourism system at the research sites, the system approach helps to structure the research
and to approximate the object of research. Furthermore, the system approach lists
already a range of framing conditions influencing tourism which can be processed in a
categorized way.
However, the study will only emphasise the side of the suppliers and consumer interests
will only be illuminated indirectly7. Hence, this study is a supply analysis. But a major
weakness of the supply side of the model is its disregard of capabilities, interests and
interactions of stakeholders in the arena of tourism. The economic model, however,
simply focuses on a mere description of original and derived supplies fading out social
realities of stakeholders. The model does not meet the complexity of the reality. The
actor is limited to a ‘homo economicus’ and social conditions which are influencing him
are ignored. Issues of power and contestation like who can participate and benefit from
tourism products and visitor demands can be better explained with the help of the
‘Theory of Access’ by RIBOT and PELUSO (2003).
3.3.2 Theory of Access and Tourism
The focus of this study is mainly about community involvement in tourism. In the
development discourse community involvement in tourism implies poverty eradication
of rural populations. But as the chapter 2.4 shows tourism developments hold many
risks for locals and poverty eradication is not a natural consequence. To minimize risks
and to increase benefits for local communities a better understanding of how they react,
interact, negotiate and shape tourism in their locality. Only if planners have a very
detailed knowledge on these procedures, successful sustainable tourism strategies and
functioning concepts can be developed.
The ‘Theory of Access’ holds exactly this potential unfolding the true chances and risks
of tourism for local tourism suppliers. It can clarify why some actors benefit from
7
A detailed market analysis on the consumer side was planned to accompany this study by an Ethiopian
counterpart. Due to lack of coordination this study was not conducted, but it is advised to do it for the
completion of the understanding of the tourism system at research sites.
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
30
tourism and others do not and it can explain power structures that regulate the ability to
participate and benefit from tourism. Therefore, this supply analysis basing on the
tourism system (chapter 3.3.1) is complemented by an analysis of suppliers with the
‘Theory of Access’.
Table 6: Structural and relational mechanisms of access
For use of resources additional technical means like tools,
access to technology
machines, infrastructure, weapons, etc. can generate access
Availability of financial capital (also technology) and credits,
access to capital
property rights, payment of rents, access fees, employment of
labourers
Possibility of gaining, controlling and maintaining entry into
access to markets
exchange relations, selling and buying of products shapes
access to benefit from things
access to labour
Possibility to find employment
Beliefs, ideological controls and discursive practices,
access to knowledge
negotiated systems of meaning shape all forms of access
Privileged access to the individuals or institutions with the
access to authority
authority to make and implement laws can strongly influence
who benefits from the resource
Access is often mediated by social identity or membership in
access through social identity
a community or group, including groupings by age, gender,
ethnicity, religion, or other attributes that constitute social
identity.
access via the negotiation of
other social relations
Friendship, trust, reciprocity, patronage, dependence. Like
identity, social relations are central to virtually all other
elements of access.
Source: after RIBOT/PELUSO 2003: 164ff
RIBOT and PELUSO define access “as ‘the ability to derive benefit from things’,
broadening from property´s classical definition as ‘the right to benefit from things’”
(RIBOT/PELUSO 2003: 153). However, actors are subject to two mechanisms to benefit
from the ability. Rights-based (RIBOT/PELUSO 2003: 162ff) as well as structural and
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
31
relational mechanisms (RIBOT/PELUSO 2003: 164ff) regulate access to things (e.g.
tourism markets).
First, the rights-based access aligns with the understanding that “the ability to benefit
from things derives from rights attributed by law, custom, or convention”
(RIBOT/PELUSO 2003: 162). Besides this so called ‘legal mechanisms’ the theory also
claims ‘illegal’ ones which are defined as forms of direct access “defined against those
based on the sanctions of custom, convention, or law” (RIBOT/PELUSO 2003: 164) (e.g.
criminality). Second, the theory identifies additional structural and relational
mechanisms of access such as technology, capital, markets, knowledge, authority and
social identity (see Table 6). These mechanisms form the access and allocate the actor a
specific position in the ‘web of access’ (RIBOT/PELUSO 2003: 160f)
Thus, the ‘bundle of rights’ (rights-based mechanisms) is only one set of factors in a
larger matrix of institutions, social and politico-economic relationships and discursive
strategies that regulate access to benefit flows. Access mechanisms are dynamic and
influenced by the position and power of individuals or groups. Therefore, RIBOT and
PELUSO talk of a ‘bundle of powers’ (structural and relational mechanisms) constituting
a ‘web of access’ characterized by power relationships and negotiations between
different actors. Obviously, the negotiation process will cause winners and losers at the
same time. To obtain, control and sustain access to resources, the actors need specific
control over both types of access mechanisms.
All access mechanisms influence, complement or hinder each other resulting in
complex social patterns of benefit distribution. For the purpose of this study single
strands as well as the bundles will be analysed to generate an understanding for access
to tourism resources.
3.4
Analytical Framework
The analytical framework of the study (see Figure 4) is on the one hand based on the
tourism system of STECK, STRASDAS and GUSTEDT (see chapter 3.3.1) analysing tourism
framing and influencing multilevel macro-economic, socio-cultural, technological,
ecological and political factors at the selected research sites.
On the other hand, the basic economic model, in the centre of the tourism system that
looks on how consumers and suppliers regulate the tourism market is altered. The
emphasis in this study lies on how local tourism suppliers derive benefits from tourism
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
32
and will be analysed with the ‘Theory of Access’ by RIBOT and P ELUSO (2003) (see
chapter 3.3.2). The inner circle of the analytical frame shows how several tourism actors
position themselves towards the tourism product. Actors further away from the tourism
product possess less developed access mechanisms to it, whereas actors in shorter
distance consequently benefiting from a specific tourism product.
Figure 4: Research analysis framework (own conception)
The study aiming at a detailed understanding of two local tourism systems will unfold
chances and risks for the implementation of CBET at the research sites.
The research hypotheses were formed during the period of fieldwork. Talks and
interviews always stressed out that the main tourism potentials in the Lake Tana region
are its cultural and natural heritages but capabilities of local actors for a self-determined
tourism development were generally questioned.
Therefore, the following two hypotheses were formulated and in the course of the study
these will be answered with the help of the analytical framework.
1. The Lake Tana region has a high potential for sustainable tourism
development due to its positive external influencing factors.
3 Concepts, Theoretical Background and Analytical Framework
2. Essential problems for a sustainable tourism development are divergent
access capabilities of local actors.
33
4 Methodology
4
34
Methodology
This chapter gives an introduction into the research sites, describes and reflects the
methodological approach of the study.
4.1
Qualitative Research Concept
The research was mainly conducted in two kebeles in the southern part of the Lake Tana
region and is based on a qualitative research design. The focus lies on local tourism
supply systems and ecological, socio-cultural, technological, political and macroeconomic influences on these systems (see chapter 3.3 and 3.4). Thus, the study is
dominantly actor-based trying to explain and understand local action patterns.
Therefore, a qualitative research approach was selected.
FLICK (2007: 22) observes a ‘pluralisation of life styles’ and together with a societal
individualization a wide range of subcultures and ways of living arise (HRADIL 1992,
cited from FLICK 2007: 22). Therefore, collective theoretical approaches become less
important and the consideration of individual societal contexts increases. Qualitative
approaches allow this individual access to objects of research and offer diversified
possibilities of analysis. In general, qualitative social research allows the researcher to
grasp social realities (MAYRING 2002: 10) whereas quantitative methods narrow the
answers of the interviewees and limit them to reacting on predetermined categories
(MAYRING 2002: 10). The selected qualitative approach offers the opportunity to
understand tourism in a wider context, because chosen methods gave the interviewees
the chance to express their impressions freely and uncategorized. Furthermore, the
overarching cognitive interest is not known by the respondents and reactions and
answers cannot be adapted to the expectations of the researcher. Thus, their possibilities
to represent a wrong image of their social reality are limited.
The researcher worked in a different cultural context, and therefore, a qualitative
approach is appropriate to be open towards possible unexpected answers. The principle
of openness is also required for the formulation of hypotheses and questions. Normally,
qualitative research works inductive, i.e. hypotheses of actor actions are formulated
during the period of research or analysis (MAYRING 2002: 36). On the contrary, Karl
Popper’s critical rationalism (POPPER 1984) contrasts with inductive research
4 Methodology
35
proclaiming a formulation of hypotheses in advance with a following test during the
fieldwork (deduction). Hence, hypotheses can only be verified or falsified and the
consideration of new aspects is not planned.
However, the research was an inductive and deductive mixture. Some hypotheses were
formulated in advance of the research and then modified and/ or complemented during
the analysis of the data. Thus, MAYRING’S (2002: 27f) principle for openness remains
granted and a continuous modification and/ or revision of research questions and
hypotheses enables new cognitions. According to the concept of hermeneutics (LAMNEK
2005: 63), the researcher has the possibility to develop and adapt his previous
understanding at the object of research.
4.2
Selection of Research Sites and Interview Partners
The selection of the two research sites in the Lake Tana region has been made in
cooperation with the Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Parks Development (BoCTPD)
and the Michael Succow Foundation. Because of two major reasons, the decision fell on
Zege Peninsula (Ura & Yiganda kebele) and Tis Issat Falls (Tis Abay & Yemoshit
kebele) (see Figure 6). First, the selected research sites belong to altogether eight
tourism corridors around Lake Tana were tourism developments will be triggered in the
coming years (BOCTPD 2011a). Until now, sustainable tourism development strategies
are not closely defined and implemented but the Community-based Ecotourism
approach could be an appropriate option for further development. And second, the
selected research sites are mostly visited by tourists while coming to the Lake Tana
region. Therefore, analysing their transformation capacity into Community-based
Ecotourism sites is highly relevant and a successful implementation could have a model
character for other tourism sights around the lake. A closer understanding of the
currently ongoing tourism procedures will support further planning for sustainable
developments.
The selection of interview partners was linked with the preparation of the analytical
frame (Figure 4) and a matrix with tourism stakeholders from national to local level was
formed. To get a diversified understanding of political, social-cultural, macro-economic,
ecological and technological features, interview partners out of different sectors from
different administrative levels were chosen. To explore the local dimension of tourism
accesses, group discussions with locals were conducted. Therefore, the community was
4 Methodology
36
classified and groups were composed in a homogenous way. To avoid biases, PRA
sessions were always gendered and large age gaps between respondents were avoided.
All PRA sessions on the local level were conducted with the help of a translator8. Table
7 lists the interview partners and applied methods.
Table 7: Selected interview partners and method applications
National level (only semi-structured expert interviews)
Expert for community-based tourism, Addis Ababa University (Prof. Dr. M. Feseha)
Expert for tourism development, SNV Netherlands (G. Fetene)
Manager of sustainable tourism project TESFA (Tourism in Ethiopia for Sustainable
Future Alternatives), (A. Milion)
Regional level (only semi-structured expert interviews)
Expert on ecology and wildlife in Lake Tana region, BoCTPD (A. Marye)
Expert on history and heritage in Lake Tana region, BoCTPD (F. Adugna)
Head of Department of Heritage Conservation and Tourism Development, BoCTPD
(M. Mulugeta)
Manager of community campsite Tim & Kim Village, Gorgora in Lake Tana region
(T. Otte)
Expert on birds in Lake Tana region, Bahir Dar University (A. Shimeles)
Local level: Zege Peninsula & Tis Issat Falls (only PRA method applications)
Village (kebele) leaders
Church leader of Ura and Yiganda kebele
Local tour guides
Tourism engaged farmers
Souvenir vendors
Coffee/tea shop owners
Tourism non-engaged farmers
Source: own conception
The institutional background simplified access to research sites and interviewees. The
embedding of the research into the feasibility assessment for a prospective Lake Tana
8
The BoCTPD offered the support of employees also for logistical assistance but the researcher preferred
the work with an independent translator to avoid any falsification of data due to biases of the
employee or towards him to/from the local population. Tesfaye Minalhegn (BSc in Risk and Disaster
Management at Bahir Dar University) was chosen as translator and PRA assistant. The researcher
knew him from a previous stay and his practical PRA experiences and his regional competence were
criteria of selection.
4 Methodology
37
Biosphere Reserve assured administrative and logistic support from the regional Bureau
of Culture, Tourism and Parks Development and the Michael Succow Foundation. At
research sites support was given to become a research permit, talks with the kebele
leaders about the undertaking where held and communicated to the community.
Furthermore, access to regional and national interview partners was easier due to
recommendations from the BoCTPD and the legalized status of the research team.
4.3
Methods
According to MAYRING’S (2002: 56) research plan, the research was divided into four
parts: development of research questions, approaching the field, logging of data, editing
and analyzing of data. After the conception of the analytical research frame (see chapter
3.4 and Figure 4) and the hypotheses, further research questions were developed and
focus groups codified. In orientation towards the research questions and focus groups
methods were adjusted. Selected methods were secondary sources analysis, semistructured guided interviews, close observation as well as Participatory Rural Appraisal
(PRA). Thus, approaching the object of investigation with several methods following
the principle of triangulation9 (KELLE/ERZBERGER 2003: 304) made a better
understanding possible.
4.3.1 Secondary Sources Analysis
Through the cooperation with the regional Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Parks
Development (BoCTPD), Bahir Dar University and the Michael Succow Foundation
good access to further literature about tourism in the Lake Tana Region was granted.
Research reports, impact assessments and destination management plans were studied in
advance to specify the understanding of the region and to explore research potentials.
This literature will also be considered in the empirical part of this study.
4.3.2 Participatory Rural Appraisal
The study on the local level with the rural community was mainly conducted with the
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). The main distinguishing feature from a group
discussion is the continuous visualization during the method application making the
9
The term triangulation describes the observation of the object of research from (at least) two points of
view. (FLICK 2003: 308). In practice, the researcher approaches a research question with several
methods and changes respondents. Through this the reliability of data can be increased.
4 Methodology
38
discussion more transparent for the respondents, visualized points are reflected and
illiterate people can also participate. The form of visualisation was adapted to the
capabilities of the target group during method applications. Illiterate people were
encouraged to draw mentioned aspects and if they felt uncomfortable with pen and
paper, local materials were used. Normally, the respondents are enabled to discover and
discuss contradictions and areas of conflict which increases the data validity. Ideally,
discussion and reflection processes are so intensive that respondents achieve a new
understanding of their situation and prospective agency will be adapted (TRÖGER 2004:
101f). Thus, the respondents are not only the providers of data, but are integrated into
the research in a participatory manner. To conclude CHAMBERS describes the
Participatory Rural Appraisal as “a family of approaches and methods to enable rural
people to share, enhance and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan
and act” (CHAMBERS 1992, Preface).
As the focus of this study is also on chances and risks of community-based tourism
approaches, the selected participatory methodological approach can be seen as more
than a mere methodology. The motivation or disinterest of respondents in participating
in PRA method applications can also be interpreted and reflected for future perspectives
of community-based tourism development.
PRA supplies the researcher with a toolbox of several methods that can be used or
combined to approach any kind of research question. Due to the qualitative research
design focusing on the perceptions of local people towards tourism within their
community, the research team (researcher and translator) was reserved during the
method application. The researchers briefly introduced themselves and their interest and
locals were gradually introduced into the method application. Interruption of discussion
was only done to deepen mentioned aspects. Furthermore, target groups were always
gendered to avoid any kind of conflicts. Altogether the following seven tools were used:
Transect – The transect walk was “used to explore the spatial dimensions of people’s
realities” (KUMAR 2002, 100). It enabled the research team to get familiar with their
new research environment and was normally done within the first days at the research
sites.
Skill Transect – This individual method was developed to get an impression how tour
guides at the sites interact with tourists and which knowledge they have about their
environment.
4 Methodology
39
Table 8: Overview of the connection between selected PRA methods, target groups,
research foci and research questions
Method
Research Question(s)
Transect
What are general conditions
for tourism development?
Skill
Transect
What are skills of local
guides?
Which are tourism impacts
on community livelihoods?
Spider
Diagram How are capabilities of local
actors for tourism
development?
Trend
Analysis
How did tourism change
local livelihoods over time?
How do traditional
Impact
community livelihoods look
Diagram
like?
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
How is access to tourism
products regulated?
Which access problems
exist?
Research foci
a. research site overview;
b. external resources (supply,
infrastructure, potential
attractions)
a. cultural, historical, natural
knowledge of guides
b. Positive/negative impacts
of tourism activities;
c. locals interpretations on
tourism;
d. locals interests in tourism;
e. sustainability of tourism
activities
a. local livelihoods;
b. problem settings of
livelihoods;
c. importance of tourism for
people’s livelihoods;
d. capabilities/threads for
livelihoods
a. economical/social/environmental sustainability of
livelihood strategies;
b. problem settings of
livelihoods;
c. capabilities/threads for
livelihoods
a. access to the tourism
products or potential
tourism products
b. stakeholder involvement in
planning process;
c. stakeholder interactions
Target group(s)
kebele leaders
tour guides
souvenir
vendors, farmers
souvenir
vendors, farmers
souvenir
vendors, farmers
kebele leaders,
priests, tour
guides, souvenir
vendors, farmers
Source: own conception
Spider Diagram – It is a spider web shaped graphic which was used to list positive and
negative tourism impacts (KUMAR 2002: 296).
Trend Analysis – It can be used to “capture changes and trends related to certain
variables over different spans of time” (KUMAR 2002: 128). This method was used to
4 Methodology
40
understand local livelihoods strategies, their relevance for income generation and
problem constellations over time.
Impact Diagram – It was used to identify impacts on livelihoods of income generating
activities (KUMAR 2002: 201).
Network/Venn-Diagram – A combination of a Network Diagram and Venn-Diagram
was chosen to analyze institutional relationships (KUMAR 2002: 211 & 234).
Table 8 gives an overview of selected PRA methods, target groups research questions
and research foci and Figure 5 show two exemplary diagrams done in two PRA
sessions.
Figure 5: Spider Diagram (left) and Network Diagram (right) (own photography,
further pictures see Annex B.2)
The
The PRA method applications were the most comprehensive and accepted tools in this
study vindicating a more detailed evaluation. In general, visualisations were highly
variable depending on educational background of people, age and experiences with
pervious visualisations. In the end, visualisations always helped to structure the
discussions and to deepen several topics. Sometimes joyful and participatory
discussions arose out of the drawing. Especially the combination of the Network and
Venn-Diagram as well as the Spider Diagram stimulated the discussions and visual
outputs were very interesting for the research team and the respondents. With the help
of these methods some farmers realized essential weaknesses and problems of tourism
development in general and on institutional levels. The Impact Diagram and the Trend
Analysis were used to analyse local livelihoods and changes over time. The latter was
sometimes difficult, because respondents had problems with the scoring. It happened
that income generating measures were only compared during one moment in time but
4 Methodology
41
not in between the different times compared. But the research team was aware of this
problem and crosschecked people’s scorings by inquiring.
4.3.3 Semi-structured Expert Interview
Semi-structured interviews are an appropriate way to cover important areas the
researcher needs information about but they also “provide the interviewees with
opportunities to bring up their own ideas and thoughts” (WILLIS 2006: 145). Before the
interviews occupational area and presumed fields of knowledge of the interviewee were
considered and some guiding questions were formulated. However, MAYRING’S (2002:
27f) principle of openness was also considered during interviews, because the
researcher might obtain new information about its object of investigation.
Expert interviews are a special form of semi-structured interviews. FLICK (2007: 215)
defines experts as people with technical, procedural and investigational knowledge
referring back to a specific professional field of action. The selected experts for this
study were governmental workers, researchers or business people working in tourism
and tourism planning for several years. Table 7 gives an overview of selected interview
partners and Annex B.3 lists guiding questions for the interviews.
The interviews gave a good insight into tourism from a more professional side and
much information can be used for the analysis part of this study. In general,
interviewees were very open and talkative. Sometimes the answers were digressing and
the researcher had to interfere.
4.3.4 Informal Talks
During the fieldwork the research team was often invited by families for drinks and
food and many informal talks were of high relevance for data triangulation. BEER
(2008a) suggests a systematization of these informal data. Furthermore, out the
cooperation with the BoCTPD, Bahir Dar University and Michael Succow Foundation a
constant exchange about tourism development in the Lake Tana region grew and
additionally supplied the researcher with informal information. Therefore, experiences
and observations were written down in a field diary for the reconstruction of events
after the fieldwork.
4 Methodology
4.4
42
Logging, Data Editing and Analysis
The data collection in the field took place by writing selective protocols10. Due to the
high amount of irrelevant information and the attendance of only one translator a
comprehensive logging was not possible. After the PRA sessions the research team
discussed again about contents to improve the understanding. Photos were taken of
visualized PRA sessions (see Annex B.2). All interviews were recorded and transcribed.
The analysis was oriented at the principle of the socio-scientific hermeneutic paraphrase
(MAYRING 2002: 109ff). This hermeneutical analysis approach combines common
knowledge, scientific theories and subjective and biographical experiences of the
researcher for the analysis of data (MAYRING 2002: 111). Thus, the researcher can
deepen its knowledge – used to develop a provisionally research frame – in the sense of
the hermeneutic circle (LAMNEK 2005: 56ff). The product of this gradual modification
of subjective, biographical and theoretical knowledge is an interpretation of the
subjective perspective of the research subjects (MAYRING 2002: 111). This leaded to a
constant restructuration of the analytical framework during the process of research and
analysis.
4.5
Limits of Research
Due to the fact that the research took place in a different socio-cultural setting
interpretation of data becomes difficult. The information needs to be socially embedded
to understand its whole scale. Therefore, method applications were subsequently
discussed with the research assistant but previous stays and fieldworks of the researcher
in Ethiopia also helped to deepen the understanding.
However, language remains a problematic factor. All discussions were held in English
which is neither the mother tongue of the research assistant, nor of the researcher. Due
to that fact it is not exclusionary that some discussions were not that effective like
between native speakers. Especially during the vivid PRA sessions when respondents
gave long explanations with lots of information filtering of data by the translator cannot
be excluded.
10
What was logged depended on the foci of the research. Criteria were defined and lined with examples
in advance so that the decision for logging was possible (MAYRING 2002: 97). The listed research foci
in Table 8 set this frame.
4 Methodology
43
The research team was located in Bahir Dar which is located roughly 30 kilometres
away from both research sites. On the one hand, the vicinity of all major tourism
institutions in the regional capital city eased access to interview partners but on the
other hand, for the phase of research at the specific tourist destinations (Zege Peninsula
& Tis Issat Falls) integration within the communities would have been better for the
interpretation of the data. Unfortunately, hygienic and infrastructural conditions11 at
sites were low and a high logistic and financial effort would have been necessary to
supply the research team with basic conditions for work. However, accessibility to both
research sites was easy and the two hours long bus rides before and after fieldwork
where used for discussions about the day.
The work with PRA methods is challengeable. Sometimes the research assistant was
overstrained to do moderation and translation at the same time. But in general
respondents were patient and tolerated this and the results of the PRA sessions are
valuable for the research. I the beginning of the PRA sessions the respondents hesitate
to start with the visualisation, because for many of them having a pen and a paper are
related to school education which many don’t have. But the visualisations were of towsided importance, because it activated discussions and made it easier to follow for the
researcher. PRA applications with young women were normally difficult and might be
related to gender or socio-cultural biases towards the male research team.
11
The main concern of the researcher was its negative experiences with gastrointestinal illnesses during
fieldworks in the past. Therefore it was his rational decision to live in Bahir Dar with good access to
hygienic food, drinks, etc.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
5
44
Results from the empirical Case Studies
This chapter supplies its reader with the empirical results from the two case studies
describing ecological, socio-cultural, macro-economical, political and technological
endowments in the Lake Tana region as well as ‘access webs’ of tourism suppliers. The
chapter 5.1 refers to the five framing conditions influencing tourism, as introduced in
the conceptual part of this study (chapter 3.3.1), whilst the chapter 5.2 specifies access
regulations of tourism suppliers according to the ‘Theory of Access’ by RIBOT and
PELUSO (2003) (chapter 3.3.2).
5.1
Lake Tana Region as a Scope of Reference for Tourism
Development
In this study the Lake Tana region (see Figure 6) is the reference area relevant for the
analysis of tourism potentials. Therefore, an introduction into geographical and
livelihood backgrounds in the area as well as at the research sites should create some
deeper understanding for the local circumstances and realities.
5.1.1 Ecological and socio-cultural Backgrounds
Lake Tana, located in the Ethiopian Highlands approximately 550 km to the North-West
of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, is the country’s largest freshwater lake (3,673 km2)
with a water body altitude of approximately 1,800 masl. Lake Tana is the upstream
source of the Abay River (Blue Nile) merging with the White Nile in North Sudan
forming the longest river in the world. The lake, its islands and terrestrial vicinities
comprise impressive attractions of natural and cultural settings in 19 monasteries, and
more than 40 islands and islets with associated wet and dry lands. The lake environment
belongs to one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in Ethiopia offering habitats
for a variety of fish species, more than 260 bird species, 16 higher mammals and more
than 180 woody plant species coupled with a variety of domestic annual and perennial
plants (BOCTPD 2011a: 14ff). The main natural attractions of tourist value are the
forested Peninsulas and islands, the birds as well as the hippopotamus. Some major
spots for bird watching are listed in Annex C.1.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
45
Following the Nile downstream from Lake Tana for some thirty kilometres, one can
discover another natural attraction. Next to the little town Tis Abay the river falls in a
smoky natural spectacle over approximately 50 meters into a black basalt stone gorge.
Figure 6: Lake Tana region and research sites (circled red) (Michael Succow
Foundation 2012: 11, slightly altered)
Besides this high variety of natural attractions, Lake Tana is also endowed with various
historic heritages. The areas around the lake harbour dozens of ornamented churches
and monasteries dating back to medieval times. They served as place of refuge from the
time of Emperor Amde Tsion’s persecutions (14th century) until the end of the Mahadist
invasions (mid 19th century). During those days the religious meaning of the region let
the number of important churches and monasteries grow, emperors came there to pray
for the success of their military campaigns, their bodies were buried on the islands and
the region still hosts some of the oldest and most beautiful manuscripts and artefacts
from the old emperors of the Ethiopian Empire. Some major heritage sites are listed in
Annexes C.2 and C.3. There are, however, less historic sites in the area around the
waterfalls.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
46
The starting point for the exploration of the region is the city of Bahir Dar, located at
the south-eastern lakeshore with approximately 300,000 inhabitants. This currently
flourishing but relatively quiet and relaxed town serves tourists with a good
infrastructure. Hotels, hospitals, tour operators, etc. are all located there. Furthermore,
the town is visited by tourists travelling on the northern circuit to the World Heritage
Sites (Gondar, Lalibela, Axum) or other famous natural attractions such as the Simien
Mountains National Park. So far, Bahir Dar is a tourist stop-over for some days while
travelling on the northern route. Therefore, sights in a short distance from Bahir Dar
with relatively good accessibility, dominantly located in the southern lake area are
preferred by tourists.
The catchment area of Lake Tana is inhabited by more than 3.2 million people (census
of 2010) (BOCTPD 2011a: 27). The overall population patterns and densities of the
Lake Tana region vary from place to place. It has been estimated that the population
density is very high ranging from 110-200 persons/km2 except in the region along the
western part of the lake which has a population density less than 50 persons/km2
(WOLDEGABRIEL/SOLOMON 2006: 23). The high human population density and
continued land-use changes resulting from uncontrolled land fragmentation and
intensive use of subland division lead to an alarming increase of deforestation, soil
erosion and floods to the lake.
Alternative income generation through tourism could be an option to lower such kind of
land-use pressures. Especially due to the positive natural and cultural preconditions
expanding tourism around Lake Tana seems to be a promising undertaking. Currently
10% of visitors’ expenditures are entrance fees at sights paid to churches and the
government, while the rest goes to tour operators, accommodation, services, religious
museums, shopping and transport but still a too small share is actually generated by
locals living at the sights (BOCTPD 2011a: v). Approaches like CBET emphasize to let
local communities profit from the tourism revenues. So far, the research sites are mainly
visited due to their historical (e.g. monasteries) and natural (e.g. Blue Nile Falls)
heritage with low community involvement. Therefore, measures need to be found to
make the locals part of the business sustainably integrating their lives and cultures into
tourism. Thus, a closer look at the livelihoods of the people at the sites can be very
helpful to find connections for tourism development with local involvement.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
47
The livelihoods on Zege Peninsula are still connected to the religious past of the area.
The historical event of Zege goes with the founder of the monasteries in the Peninsula.
Aba Betre Mariyam, from Mugger in the former province of Showa. His name and his
virtue go together, ‘Betre’ means stick. He was called Betre Mariyam, because he had a
stick that helped him win against the heretics and defeated the demons. He freed his
people from the bondage of the devil and did many miracles, as the stick of Zecharias
did. In the end he rested at Zege. After the recognition of Zege, given by Amde Tsion
for the established monasteries, natural resources, historical and cultural heritages have
been passed on from generation to generation and now Zege is a place the residents
established their livelihoods reconciled with the monastery life. No plough culture and
clearing of natural vegetation is allowed and the people have been loyal to the
proscriptions given by the founder of the monasteries Aba Betre Mariyam (BOCTPD
2011a: 39).
Nowadays, the approximately 8,000 inhabitants of the Peninsula living in the 1,238 ha
covering area are mainly dependent on nature. The strict rules of their ancestor are still
regulated and controlled by the Orthodox Church, thus a dense forest covers the basaltic
rock to the north-west from Bahir Dar. Besides the six churches and monasteries, the
nature of Zege is a unique feature in the deforested North of Ethiopia. In the shade of
the old and big trees, the farmers cultivate wild coffee which is their main source of
income. Nowadays, the trade of this culturally important good is mainly limited to local
markets, whilst in the past international coffee producers occasionally bought from the
farmers. In general coffee production revenues were highly fluctuating over the last
years according to the farmers. However, coffee is the dominant cash crop. There is no
clear information on how and when coffee was introduced. But informants suggest that
it was growing wild and as early as the beginning of settlement on the Peninsula. People
collect coffee fruits, dry them in the sun, store them in a granary (gotera) and sell
themwhen desired. Other agricultural products are edible fruits (lemon, orange, tringo)
produced at small scale for home and local consumption. In addition to fruits, a few
crops like millet, teff, finger millet and hops (geshu) are planted at homestead only for
own consumption and almost nothing is taken to markets. Farming on the Peninsula
depends on hoe culture which is extremely rare to find in Ethiopia. The availability of
the coffee forests offers a suitable environment for the production of coffee flower
honey. However, no markets have been developed for this exclusive product.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
48
People on the Peninsula have no pastoralist and hunting culture. From the very
beginning monastic culture forbade animal husbandry. Traditionally, farmers also live
from fishing and firewood collection and over the years livestock husbandry with small
ruminants (sheep) and chicken was allowed by the religious leaders. Most forms of
trade as well as the fishing are done on the lake with the traditional papyrus boats
(tankwa). Nowadays, tourism revenues are not an important means of income except for
some relatively small beneficiary groups like the local guides. In general, all other local
tourism actors like souvenir vendors or coffee/tea shop owners can hardly earn money
with their businesses.
A main reason for this can be seen in the role of the Orthodox Church when it comes to
regulation of tourism. At present, the largest share of tourism revenues on the Peninsula
is earned with entrance fees to the monasteries. Normally, fees range from 50 to 100
ETB/per visitor depending on the monastery or church people want to visit. BoCTPD
(2011a: 12) estimated the total revenues for entrance fees for monasteries, churches or
museums at approximately 335,000 ETB. According to a PRA session with the church
leader of Ura kebele, the money is predominantly spent for heritage conservation,
construction of new churches and repairs on the church compounds. Almost no money
flows back to the community e.g. through food aid support in times of food insecurity.
It is questionable whether the Orthodox Church does not have a greater social
responsibility for the well-being of locals besides its mere religious function. A revenue
sharing could already support the livelihoods of hundreds of people. However,
interpretation of priests as well as local community is completely different and both
parties do not advocate more socially responsible ways. Several farmers said that “the
money is spent on our salvation”, thus, expressing their satisfaction with this structure.
To conclude, the Orthodox Church, as a widely accepted authority by the community, is
an important tourism stakeholder on the Zege Peninsula and needs to be considered in
tourism planning processes. Its willingness to compromise is essential for successful
tourism developments, because church leaders can mobilize participants and promote
the idea of tourism. Furthermore, its ethic manifestations can have positive effects on
uprising social conflicts through tourism developments.
But Zege Peninsula with its dense and differentiated flora and fauna, hidden forest
settlements and churches, impressive land-use, religious icons and cultural attractions as
well as the topographic features has significant potentials for tourism development.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
49
Particularly, communities living with forest and wild animals are unique from other
agrarian communities of the region. Box 2 also conveys this beauty out of a tourist
perspective.
Box 2: A Tourist’s View on the Beauty of Lake Tana Region (extract from the
diary of the researcher, August 22nd, 2011)
“Last weekend we did some sightseeing exploring the coffee forests on Zege
Peninsula. It is today’s aim to discover the Peninsulas hinterland. We start early in
the morning, as for sure, the rainy season will bring rainfalls in the afternoon. [...]
What a nice coincidence that our plan harmonizes with the schedule of the lake
ferry heading towards the Peninsulas’ jetties at 7am. The sun is just rising and the
normally brown colour of the lake reflects the morning light golden. Oh, what a
precious morning. We are leaving into the fog which gathered over the night in the
lake basin. [...]
Only one hour later we are heading uphill. We left Ura Kidane Mehret monastery
just about five minutes behind and there is nothing anymore, no souvenir shops,
not even many houses, just us alone on trails under high canopy trees with coffee
plants as undergrowth. [...] Monkeys shaking the branches and birds are singing.
The Peninsula has so much more to offer than only the historical heritage.
Just about 30 minutes later we are on top of Mt. Ararat, the highest point on the
Peninsula. Here, on the Tekle Haimanot church compound we have today’s first
nice encounter with some priests. Astonished about the rare visitors from Germany
they invite us to join their meal: araki (traditional sorghum schnapps) and cooked
maize. We spend quite a while with them explaining about agriculture in Germany
and causing a lot of laughter. [...] Unfortunately, the church was not accessible for
visitors, although nobody was able to tell us if this is a general regulation or if the
priest with the key was just not present. No matter, the hilltop offers a beautiful
overview on the southern bay of Lake Tana with Bahir Dar in the distance. [...]
Rain clouds coming in and let us make our way back to Zege village to fetch a bus
back to Bahir Dar. Along the road some children are playing games and ask us to
join them. [...]”
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
50
The livelihoods at Tis Issat Falls (Blue Nile Falls) are similar compared with others in
the Ethiopian Highlands and slightly differ from Zege Peninsula. The little town of Tis
Abay (Tis Abay kebele) and its surrounding villages (Yemoshit kebele) inhabit
approximately 15,000 people (MARYE 2010: 22) mainly making their livelihoods from
agriculture and partially livestock production, fishing and firewood collection.
According to MARYE (2009: 22), 75% of the income is generated from crop and
livestock production. The main agricultural products are field crops like maize, sugar
cane, teff and millet, oil crops like noug and sunflower and pulses such as chick pea and
grass pea. Cultivation is still done in a very simple way by yoking oxen to the plough
and sowing local seeds by hand. Harvesting as well as threshing is done with simple
tools and such events are often done in small groups. Some farmers grow kad, a
legalized drug which is highly demanded due to its intoxicating and awakening
qualities. Livestock have a multipurpose role at the locality. They provide draught
power, meat, milk and milk products and fulfil social and religious obligations. The
community keeps different types of livestock (cattle, goat, sheep and chicken). The
number of livestock owned could range from a few small animals (e.g. chickens) to
large numbers and many smallholders keep more than one type of animal. However,
productivity has decreased due to limited feeding areas and poor livestock management
(MARYE 2010: 30). The availability of forest, shrubs and field flowers are suitable for
honey production. As a result, some households are using traditional and modern
beehives (BERHANU ET AL. 2007) producing honey and honey wine called tej. However,
such kinds of products are mainly for own consumption or are prepared for festivals and
holy days.
In the little town of Tis Abay some farmers opened small shops, restaurants and hotels
mainly to cover local demands for food and accommodation. The town has a relatively
dense settlement pattern and is an important market place for the surrounding villages as
well as the starting point for the tourist circuit around the waterfalls. Next to the Tourist
Information Centre and along the trek some vendors offer souvenirs (scarves,
handicrafts) to the visitors, but supply isn’t really diversified and the generated income
remains low. As on Zege Peninsula the tour guides are the only group generating the
largest proportion of their income from tourism.
Livelihoods certainly differ from the other research site, but certainly flora and fauna,
land-use, the natural setting and the agrarian community are the most interesting
features for tourists.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
51
5.1.2 Macro-economic, political and technological Frame for Tourism
The potential of the lake area for tourism development is also influenced by a range of
internal and external macro-economic, political and technological frame conditions
which will be conducted in this chapter.
Figure 7: Amount of visitors in Bahir Dar 1998 to 2010 (own conception, adapted
from BOCTPD 2011a: 47)
The major macro-economic driving force for tourism development, as already
mentioned in the chapter 1.1, are increasing tourism trends in Ethiopia in general. Out
of the 330,000 visitors registered in 200812 (UNWTO 2009: 9) the largest share is
visiting the country for business purposes. In comparison to this large number, the
11,774 foreign tourists who visited Bahir Dar in 2008 may appear low, but they made
the lake area the third most visited tourist destination in Ethiopia after Lalibela and
Gondar. Inbound tourists also contribute to an increasing degree to the popularity of the
lake area. In general, Figure 7 depicts an increasing trend of visitors in Bahir Dar and its
vicinities from 1998 to 2010. Tourism revenues are still higher from international
tourism (30,300,403 ETB). Less than half of the amount of international tourists spent
more than the local visitors (26,867,565 ETB). But total revenues of local and foreign
visitors are similar and revenues of local visitors are no less important for the tourism
development in the Lake Tana region. Therefore, focussing only on the interests of
12
Numbers from 2009 on were not accessible. UNWTO only published the data up to 2008. Reasons why
actual numbers are not available are not known.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
52
international tourists in tourism supply would be a misleading path. An emerging
Ethiopian middle class has discovered the lake area for recreation as well.
But the high attractiveness of Bahir Dar and its vicinities has low economic impacts on
the rural population at sights. In 2010, Bahir Dar attracted about 102 tourists per day
whereas only 10 to 20% of them visit Zege Peninsula or the Nile Falls (BOCTPD
2011b: 47). Merely 10% of their expenditures go to local souvenir sellers and 7% to
local guides, whereas the largest share of 83% is spent on entrance fees, transportation,
food and accommodation (BOCTPD 2011a: 48) and is thus not remaining on the local
level. Certainly, there is a higher potential for local economic participation from
tourism.
Besides tourism the lake area is of high interest for other investments. The inauguration
of the Tana Beles hydropower plant13 in 2010 is one example for the potential of the
lake for hydropower generation. Prospective irrigation projects in vast wetland areas
along the eastern and northern lakeshore can also influence the tourism sector. Some
impact assessments see threats for tourism development due to serious interventions in
unique habitats and a loss of biodiversity, whilst also emphasizing the infrastructural
developments in the course of large-scale development projects with benefits for
tourism in these areas (MOWR 2010, EPLAUA 2006a, 2006b). Influences on Zege
Peninsula might be irrelevant due to its geographical distance from these large-scale
projects. The Nile Falls, however, already suffer from water scarcity when the dam
further upstream – maintaining the water level of the lake artificially – is closed to
secure power generation of the Tana Beles plant.
As mentioned by many interviewees, remote tourism sights are lacking technological
standards thus hindering tourists to extend their stay in the rural areas and obviating
high-quality tourism product development with better revenues for local communities.
On the one hand, the proximity of Bahir Dar is an advantage for the research sites,
because important infrastructures like Bahir Dar airport, transportation and medical
facilities, banks and postal services are easily reachable. These factors can increase the
willingness of visitors to stay in rural areas because fast access in case of an emergency
13
The Tana Beles hydropower plant near Kunzila at the western lakeshore connects Lake Tana watershed
artificially with the Beles River watershed. The power plant receives water from the lake and after
utilizing it to produce electricity, then discharges the water into the Beles River. The plant will have
an installed capacity of 460 MW when fully operational and will be the largest power plant in the
country. It is also expected to help providing water for the irrigation of 140,000 ha (350,000 acres)
(ENA 2010)
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
53
is granted. On the other hand, a large range of budget to midrange accommodations,
hygienic and diverse food offers and the relaxed, clean and safe atmosphere of Bahir
Dar attract tourists to remain in town threatening rural tourism economies. From a
technological and infrastructural point of view the research sites are not competitive
with Bahir Dar. The fieldwork transects showed that electrification, easy and safe
transportation, telecommunication and safe access to clean drinking water, food and
toilets cannot be ensured at sites and differ from place to place. Tourism planners have
to consider such structural facts, because structural development is cost-intensive and it
remains questionable, if it is a governmental priority in remote areas for the coming
years.
In addition, the quality and quantity of information available about the tourism sights in
the Lake Tana region is too low. Information centres, tour operators and local guides
only promote classic and well established day trips to the sights, but rather innovative
offers are inexistent. In the case of Zege, these trips bring tourists to one or two
monasteries with low natural or cultural experience. At Tis Issat Falls focus is on the
natural phenomenon only. Service provided by tour operators during such a trip is just
transportation with a private boat or car. At the sites, local tour guides also perform their
classic programme providing visitors with short information. Skill Transect walks with
local tour guides at Tis Issat and Zege showed that they do not have basic skills and
knowledge on how to present attractions and keep visitors enthusiastic. They do not
speak foreign languages other than English. Sometimes their poor English language
proficiency is one of the most critical problems for efficient local tour guide service and
information exchange. A further problem is their lack of consistency and coherence in
the story they try to make. There is no common written local tour guide book on which
guides can depend. Each local tour guide presents facts and figures on the basis of
different oral histories which considerably differ and even conflict each other. Since
2003, however, the then Regional Tourism Commission and now the BoCTPD has
taken a stand that tour guiding services at main attraction sites have to be provided by
licensed local tour guides. The Commission/Bureau has prepared and administered
qualifying exams for all people who claim to be local tour guides. Indeed, the step taken
is a crucial one in promoting quality improvement in tourism, but hardly promotes
professional local tour guiding. According to local tour guides, the exam covers very
general historical and heritage related questions, but it does not measure real
competence and capability in tour guiding. Hence, all local tour guides are self-made
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
54
rather than trained and educated. They have never had any training on the subject except
an orientation week, provided by the Regional Tourism Authority, on ethical issues
based on the common moral of teaching but not from a professional point of view. This
was in 2006 and since then nothing has happened with regard to upgrading their skills
or knowledge. In the meantime, three tourism colleges in Bahir Dar try to improve and
professionalize the quality of tourism service providers.
The political context also needs to be considered while planning sustainable forms of
tourism. This does not merely mean to consider general political and societal disputes
and the probability of conflicts, crises or wars within the area of interest, but more likely
to analyze the institutional structures from national to local levels and their qualification
for the promotion and development of sustainable tourism.
The former aspect seems to be of marginal interest. Since the foundation of the
Ethiopian Federal Democratic Republic in 1991, the political and societal stability grew,
but single events raised negative publicity with low negative impacts on tourism
development so far. Neither the war against the neighboring country Eritrea from 1998
to 2000 nor the student upheavals in 2005 after the elections nor the hunger crisis in
Somalia and large parts of southern and eastern Ethiopia in 2011 have diminished the
increasing tendency of international tourist arrivals (see Annex A). Reasons for this
could be the low media interest in the western world on Ethiopian concerns or a more
risk-affine type of tourist visiting developing countries like Ethiopia. But in general, for
the central tourist regions of the country no serious event took part over the last two
decades, altogether creating a positive climate for further growth of the tourism
industry.
Of more relevance for flourishing tourism is the existence of multilevel political
structures and policies permitting stakeholders on their way towards creating a tourism
industry. National agendas like the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to
End Poverty (PASDEP) or the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) or international
donors (e.g. SNV, USAID) and programmes (e.g. ST-EP initiative by UNWTO14)
support the idea of sustainable tourism development in Ethiopia. In the federal system
of Ethiopia the regional states are the implementing institutions and in the case of the
14
UNWTO ST-EP Foundation was established in 2005 in the framework of the ST-EP (Sustainable
Tourism Eliminating Poverty) initiative of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Headquartered in Seoul, Korea, the Foundation is funding, implementing and promoting projects and
programs of sustainable tourism, education, culture and sports, aimed at achieving the UN MDGs.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
55
Lake Tana region specific destination management and networking plans have been
written15 to work out future strategies for tourism development.
The establishment of the Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve in the coming years must be
mentioned as another key aspect for the development of the Lake Tana region. One
dimension of the programme will also support sustainable tourism developments and
funds will be available for some model projects. Furthermore, the BR will try to
harmonize all actions of stakeholders to minimize their environmental impacts in the
lake area. If this can be achieved, a major step towards prospective natural resource
preservation and tourism sustainability is done. Then, the regions attractiveness for
nature tourism can increase and be a magnet for tourists. However, this task remains
challenging due to the fact that resource preservation will come along with constraints
for resource users. Obviously, tourism could be a gaining sector from nature
conservation, but what about the mainly agricultural societies around the lake? Will
they accept limited resource use in times of food scarcity? Further research on this
aspect could be helpful that planners can consider this aspect for prospective tourism
management.
According to a tourism expert, major weaknesses for the formation of a successful
tourism industry are found on the local level. “The communities do not have the
institutions for managing tourism in the way governmental planners develop it. The
local level is still not part of the upper level structures” (Prof. Feseha, Addis Ababa
University). In general, it is questionable if required planning, management and
development skills can be expected from an agricultural society with almost no
experiences in tourism and small businesses. A bottom-up orientation could be a more
promising path where communities realize forms of tourism appropriate to their skills
backed by upper level support and funding. So far, we are only talking about tourism
industry with no claims with respect to sustainability. Presumably, making such tourism
developments more sustainable is a too complex venture for local actors.
To conclude, all mentioned macro-economic, technological and political backgrounds in
this chapter are ambiguous. There are always chances and risks for an emerging tourism
industry. It will be the big challenge for tourism planners and actors to develop an
adapted strategy strengthening the chances and minimizing the risks of tourism
15
Lake Tana Tourism Destinations Management and Networking Development Plan; Tourism
Destination Management Plan for Zege and its vicinities; Bahir Dar Blue Nile River Millennium Park
Strategic Plan
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
56
development. Certainly, local actors cannot handle this project by themselves and they
will need the help of already existing governmental and non-governmental
organisations managing, regulating and harmonizing this complex structural frame.
5.2
Local Accesses to Tourism Markets
A major goal of the Ethiopian Government and international donors with expansive
plans for the Ethiopian tourism industry is poverty eradication. Local people shall be
enabled to live a life above the poverty line. Certainly, this is a justifiable aim for one of
the poorest countries in the world. But poverty eradication through tourism is a difficult
undertaking. As constantly mentioned in the previous chapters, the interests, skills and
capabilities of local actors are major criteria for successful tourism at sights. Even if the
general framework is promising, the locals must live with positive as well as negative
effects of tourism and are either motivated or reluctant towards an expansion of tourism
within their community. In the end, the local actors are the major driving forces and will
bring tourism approaches to a success or a fail. Hence, this brings about the need for a
more detailed understanding of local actors and tourism. Therefore, this chapter will
analyse skills and capabilities of local tourism suppliers and how they regulate their
access to tourists, tourism activities, products or generally the tourism market to get a
share of tourist expenditures.
The analysis focuses only on souvenir vendors and local tour guides on Zege Peninsula
and at Tis Issat Falls. Actually, tourism services are primarily done by these two groups.
Other occasionally occurring services like coffee or tea preparation, selling of fruits or
hiking sticks were not included in this study, because of their low importance compared
to souvenir vending and guiding. Boat transportation services are only managed by the
local community in the case of Tis Issat Falls, whereas boat trips to or around Zege
Peninsula are organized from Bahir Dar tour operators. A comparison between the two
sites was not possible, and therefore this business was also excluded.
5.2.1 The Case of the Souvenir Vendors
The souvenir vendors are numerically the largest tourism supplier group at the research
sites. In Ura and Yiganda kebele on Zege Peninsula approximately 30 and in Tis Abay
and Yemoshit kebele at Tis Issat Falls around 20 souvenir shops exist. According to
statements of the respective kebele leaders, these shops altogether complement the
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
57
livelihoods of around 1,000 people. The souvenir vendors can be divided into two
groups. Individual vendors who have their own shop along the main tourist tracks and
vendor associations where at least ten local people get together to open a shop on
communal land assigned by local governments. In general, the vendor association
members are former jobless people, preferably female, proposed by employment
offices. According to Trend Analysis with tourism suppliers, net monthly profits highly
vary from 0 to 50 ETB in the low tourist season (May to September) to 400 to 500 ETB
during the high season (November to January)16. Individual vendors often described the
generated income with tourism as an important supplement to their livelihoods mainly
spent on plugging budgetary deficits or education of their children. Members of vendor
associations on the other hand only get an averaged share of profits hardly enough for
buying additional products from the market. Not only the different scope of income, but
also dissimilar tourism webs of (Figure 8) emerging throughout the research, now
require an individual consideration.
In general, individual vendors have the advantage that their homesteads are
conveniently located along the two major tourist tracks on Zege Peninsula from the
jetties to the monasteries or respectively along the hiking trail around the Nile Falls.
Especially on Zege Peninsula access to land in a tourist location is highly valuable and
vendors’ access is strongly regulated to the consumers, because mobile vending17 is not
allowed by communal law and religious ethics. At Tis Issat Falls mobile vending
through youngsters is more common – tolerated by the community and churches –
which decreases importance of logistically valuable land access.
Furthermore, vendors need to mobilize relatively high amounts of financial capital to
establish their business, whereas access to credits will not be provided for individual
vendors. Obviously, quality and quantity of products are minimized due to weak
financial input possibilities for mainly subsistence-oriented farmers.
The vendor associations, however, have better access to credits in combination with
small-scale business plans developed in cooperation with the Department of SmallScale Enterprises and the Amhara Credit and Savings Institute (ACSI). The fact that
16
Throughout all PRA sessions with local tourism suppliers it was asked for average net profits during
the last three years.
17
Mobile vending is a form of selling a small range of products (scarves, handicrafts, etc.) along the trails
talking to and promoting products to tourists. Normally, it is done by youngsters after school to
support their parents businesses. In general, the parents tolerate this behavior and see it as means of
income increase and chance for the children to improve their language skills.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
58
vendor associations can share the risk of taking a credit among their members and that
they are a measure for job creation, turn them into an intended political instrument.
Therefore, barriers for payout of credits are minimized. The Network Diagram
applications unfolded some kind of dissatisfaction about low credit availability or
anxieties due to high indebtedness. Actually, one vendor association terminated work
throughout the phase of field research due to the dissatisfactions of members. In
general, discussions during Spider Diagram applications showed that even with better
financial support financial means are mainly invested in measures for life subsistence
and not in quality increase or diversification of products.
Questions of land access are less relevant, because communal land along the main trails
is given for the associations to open their businesses. Normally, the shops are located in
optimal positions in core tourist areas around the sights.
+ good access, +/- moderate access, - low or no access
Figure 8: Access mapping of individual souvenir vendors and vendor associations
(Source: own survey)
In general, tourism-relevant knowledge of both vendor groups is low. Almost all
interviewed vendors had none and only some had very basic foreign language skills
which were continuously seen as a major obstacle for selling due to a very limited
communication potential with tourists. The local tourist guides should serve as
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
59
communicators between the vendors and the tourists. But social relations play a central
role as a souvenir vendor expressed in Ura kebele: “Since I had an argument with one
of the guides, all the local guides try to avoid bringing tourists to my shop”. In addition
to the relevance of language skills and personal relations, any kind of business
orientation, entrepreneurship, understanding of tourism markets, tourist demand or
innovation for new product development is missing. Unfortunately, no product
diversification can take place. As a result, increased competition over a few products
lowered the profits of the vendors gradually over the years. This can trigger a vicious
circle. Low incomes will not improve financial capital to negotiate investments for
livelihoods, means of production, diversified quality tourism products and refunds of
credits leading to an up-scaling of financial deficits. Otherwise, several tourism
trainings continuously try to improve awareness on such negative side effects and to
spread knowledge about tourism.
To conclude, the major problems for both vendor groups are their lack of tourism
knowledge, land and financial capital limiting a more profitable tourism market access
of these actors. Figure 8 visualises both webs of access of the two vendor groups and
evaluates their access mechanisms.
5.2.2 The Case of local Tour Guides
The second most important tourism supplier group are the local guides. Skill transects
revealed that understanding of guiding service is rather unprofessional. Normally,
guides see their tasks mainly in showing the tourists the right track to the sights, chasing
away hassling vendors or children and giving some basic information (see also chapter
5.1.2), whereas translation skills to interact with locals or priests and well-founded
natural, cultural and historical knowledge are relatively weak. But through trainings
their awareness for their tasks can be improved. There are 17 guides on Zege Peninsula
and about 25 at Tis Issat Falls. Nowadays, all local guides are organized in one local
tour guide association at each research site which became a requirement by the
BoCTPD to stop hassling for tourists. All members must be licensed by the BoCTPD,
guiding fees are fixed to 70 ETB per tour and averaged among members at the end of
the month and it is an obligation for tourist groups bigger than three to take a local
guide18. Thus, according to the Skill Transect and the Spider Diagram methods, the
18
There is no legal agreement that bigger groups must take local guides but local authorities support this
regulation to increase incomes of local guides.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
60
individual monthly income of guides ranges between 1,000 ETB (low season) and more
than 3,000 ETB (high season) which is good compared to a monthly per capita income
of about 1,550 ETB19 (CIA 2012). In general, the local guides support a larger family
circle with shares of their income, as one of the local guides in Tis Abay mentioned. “I
saved some money to invest in a better tourism education. Next year I will graduate
from the tourism college in Bahir Dar. And still, there is some money left to live a good
life with my wife and my son and I can support the school education of my little
brother”. No reliable data were available on how many individual livelihoods are
actually influenced by profits generated from guiding services, but if we assume only
four family members are benefitting, as the quotation shows, easily more than 200 local
people get a share of the profits. Figure 9 visualises access mechanisms of local Tour
guides again.
+ good access, +/- moderate access, - low or no access
Figure 9: Access mapping of local tour guides (Source: own survey)
For offering guiding services local guides mainly benefit from their basic historical,
cultural and natural knowledge as well as their foreign language skills. Only some of the
knowledge is generated through professional trainings or language courses, most guides
learned their skills through interaction with foreigners and other guides. In general,
moderate skills suffice for the BoCTPD licensing exam. The guiding licence is the most
important access mechanism for offering guided tours at the sights and unlicensed
19
The CIA calculated a GDP per capita (PPP) of $ 1.100 for 2011. On a monthly base this is about $ 90
or 1,550 ETB.
5 Results from the empirical Case Studies
61
guides are not accepted anymore. Together with locally accepted guiding laws (fixed
fees, necessity of a local guide for tour groups bigger than three), local tour guiding is
controlled by a small group of guides in a somewhat monopolistic setting. Even if a
well-founded or scientific natural, cultural and historic knowledge is inexistent, a large
share of visitors cannot bypass this service which increases market access of local
guides generating a stable and relatively high income which to some extent is reinvested
in guiding service improvements. Some guides expressed the wish or already use the
study opportunities at one of three tourism colleges in Bahir Dar but only few invest in
language courses and prefer language practice with everyday tourist interaction.
Furthermore, the Zege tour guide association already developed a sense of
responsibility for tourism development in their locality and during the time of research
guides were working on a proposal to hand over to the person in charge at the BoCTPD.
6 Discussion of the Results
6
62
Discussion of the Results
The previous chapter 5 gave an overview over the general frame influencing tourism
development in the Lake Tana region and unfolded webs of access of local tourism
actors. This chapter will discuss the adequacy of the frame conditions for sustainable
tourism development and will analyse access mechanisms in the sense of the ‘Theory of
Access’ by RIBOT and PELUSO (2003) (see chapter 3.3.2). In the end, this chapter
considers the research results in the scope of the sustainability criteria of MOWFORTH
and MUNT (2009) (chapter 3.2).
6.1
Lake Tana Region: Appropriate Environments for
Sustainable Tourism?
Both research sites suffer from overpopulation and high land-use pressure. Therefore,
alternative means of income need to be found to lower ecological impacts of a still
growing population (see chapter 5.1.1). From natural and cultural aspects tourism
potentials in the Lake Tana region at the researched sites are high. Some of their most
outstanding features are listed in Table 9. Tourism demand can surely be increased and
tourism has the possibility to generate alternative incomes for farmers. Especially the
natural and cultural potentials need further development, because of their high
attractiveness for visitors. Rural livelihoods are diverse from the daily lives of visitors
and create sufficient possibilities for explaining, experiencing and participating without
selling out or commercializing local customs, traditions and cultures. Traditional ways
of food preparation, different production cycles (honey, coffee, traditional beer), crafts
(papyrus boat construction, painting) or participation in an Ethiopian coffee ceremony
are just some examples for tourism potentials from local livelihoods.
Furthermore, natural attractions hold more potential for observation and explication as
well. Besides the Nile Falls scenic landscapes are ubiquitous in the Lake Tana region.
Volcanism shaped the region over millions of years and unique habitats for flora and
fauna arose. For the development of tourism products such aspects need to be
considered. Not all visitors are that much interested in cultural experience and exchange
but want to explore natural habitats. So far, no offers for bird watching, forest or lake
explorations with an educative character are existent. But these activities could diversify
6 Discussion of the Results
63
and stimulate local tourism economies through provision of products (local equipments
e.g. papyrus boats) and services (e.g. local guides, accommodation, food, etc.).
Furthermore, it is also possible to link natural and cultural experiences of tourists.
Several day trips on papyrus boats around the lakeshore for nature observation could be
offered with papyrus boat construction together with the locals in advance or traditional
food preparation in the evenings at the campsite.
The two research sites offer natural and cultural unique selling points which are not yet
explored and promoted. Nowadays, the region is predominantly visited, because of the
waterfalls and the monasteries but its various potentials might appeal a wider range of
tourists. The nature lover as well as the cultural tourist, the adventurous or more serious
such as the old or young budget or high-class customer could feel attracted by the Lake
Tana region. A differentiated demand analysis could help to categorize the actual
demand for several activities, so that every visitor finds a fitting offer. So far, it can be
assumed that the small and not demand-oriented tourism product spectrum limits profits
from tourism. Hence, a fitting range of products could increase local economic benefits.
Furthermore, positive tourism trends encourage an expansion of tourism products.
Unfortunately, local people’s inexperience with tourism will challenge a demandoriented development.
In how far the large-scale irrigation and hydropower projects as well as the
implementation of the Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve will impinge on tourism remains
controversial, positive as well as negative arguments can be listed (see chapter 5.1.2)
In general, the political climate can be interpreted positively and the political
environment is safe. Furthermore, the Ethiopian government and international donors
try to pave the way with multimillion Euro programmes (see chapter 1.1) towards a
sustainable tourism development. Unfortunately, institutional obstacles exist on the
local level when it comes to planning, implementing and managing tourism.
Infrastructural deficits at sites can partly be compensated by the proximity of
infrastructures in Bahir Dar. Furthermore, forms of cultural and nature tourism only
need basic infrastructures like access to hygienic food, water and toilets. Certainly, the
biggest obstacle for tourists is access to information. Neither tour operators nor guides
are able to present a complete overview of possibilities tourists have in the Lake Tana
region. Classic and well established programmes are repeated and always the same
destinations are addressed. So far, tourists will not get an overview on activities feasible
6 Discussion of the Results
64
Table 9: Chances and risks for tourism development at research sites
Chances
Risks
natural, socio-cultural
Natural forest with indigenous and rare
Inexperience of locals with tourism;
plant species;
Lack of tourism relevant skills
Hippopotamus;
(entrepreneurship, foreign languages,
business orientation, etc.)
Papyrus bed wetlands;
Key bird species (nesting and feeding
sites);
Scenic landscape (lakeshore, waterfalls,
volcanic landscape, etc.);
Coffee forest and ‘coffee culture’;
Agricultural system;
Construction and use of papyrus boats
(tankwas);
Monastic life;
Hospitality and interest in tourism by
locals;
Old trade route;
Ancient monasteries and artefacts
The role of the Orthodox Church
macro-economical
Positive tourism trends in Ethiopia and in
Weak demand orientation
Lake Tana region
Hydropower and large-scale irrigation projects
political
Positive political climate (international,
national programmes supporting
sustainable tourism)
Weak institutions for planning,
implementation and management of
tourism on the local level;
‘Fuzzy’ tourism development: a clear
future perspective, tourism goals and
criteria are missing
Implementation of Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve
technological
Professionalization through tourism
colleges and study programmes (e.g.
tourism management, etc.)
Source: own conception
Weak provision of information;
Weak availability and guiding services;
No tour operators focussing on
environmentally or socially-friendly
aspects in tourism
6 Discussion of the Results
65
and suppliers do not dare to work out new programmes. However, tourism colleges and
study programmes might give the chance for transformation and diversification of
offers.
To conclude, the general frame for tourism developments in the Lake Tana region
shows significant deficits in planning, implementing and managing current forms of
tourism on actor level. However, promising developments evolve to professionalize
tourism and train actors. The transformation potential of the current tourism practice
into a sustainable structure is difficult to predict, but the creation of awareness and the
integration of sustainable ways of living in daily life and the education system – in
general, promoting the ideology of sustainability – will be major forces for sustainable
tourism development on all stakeholder levels. While criticizing, we should not forget
that the modern tourism business is still a very young phenomenon in Ethiopia shaping
for not more than 15 years and actors will need more time to eliminate their
weaknesses.
In contrast to tourism’s institutional weaknesses, the growing demand for tourism in
Ethiopia, local people’s openness to tourism development as well as the auspicious
natural and cultural capitals at the research sites, are powerful arguments that tourism
can sustain rural livelihoods. However, planners have to be aware that the first steps
need to be adapted to the status quo of actors and the general frame conditions. The
Lake Tana region is still not comparable with other destinations for high-class tourism
but the research sites are highly attractive for the nature-loving, active, culturally
interested individual tourist who appreciates simple travels off the beaten track. Shaping
tourism towards this kind of target group in the beginning will be possible with the
current potentials and capitals.
6.2
Souvenir Vending: A too complex Business in the rural
Context?
The analysis of access webs of souvenir vendors (Figure 8) shows their business as a
complex system from the supplier to the consumer. The experiences of the mainly
farming society with this relatively new business are low with no or just minimal
understanding by the vendors themselves. As described in the chapter 5.2.1 the relation
between the supplying vendors and the consumer markets are the key components that
have to intertwine effectively to create a sustainable business.
6 Discussion of the Results
66
In the case that vendors are not the producers of the souvenirs the actual souvenir
supplier need to be added to the system as well. Nowadays, many vendors or their
family members are the producers of the souvenirs, because investment can be reduced,
whereas several products like scarves or religious jewellery are primarily bought from
intermediaries in Bahir Dar. This complicates the situation for some vendors, because
investments have to be done in advance although only few experiences with the
estimation of tourist demand exist and low-income households generally do not dispose
about the needed monetary means at once. However, households producing their own
souvenirs can react more flexible adapting their means for production of souvenirs
according to their current livelihood situation and consumer demand. Therefore, an
approach where tourism businesses are still perceived as sideline activities seems to be
more appropriate at the moment. This idea is also supported by many street vendors’
statements that say that they “are primarily farmers”.
The low ability to invest accompanied by the lacking knowledge about tourism and little
previous profits from tourism hinder product diversification and quality improvements.
From the vendors’ point of view this is a rational behaviour avoiding indebting, because
of investments for their tourism business. But from an economical point of view, this
unvarying range of low-quality products is not competitive on local tourism markets as
well as on the regional market in Bahir Dar leading to an ineffectiveness of the
businesses and low earnings of both vendor groups. The current range and quality of the
products does not allow profits which is destructive for businesses affording high startup investments. This leads to an aversion of opening shops for individual farmers due to
their weak asset endowment and missing external governmental supports.
Financial and knowledge barriers are similar for associations but organisational and
financial supports by the Government can be seen as main driving forces to overcome
them. Unfortunately, in the long-run vendor associations are facing the same selling
problems as individual vendors and with the monthly profits being averaged, individual
incomes decrease to a minimum. Already, this has forced one vendor association on
Zege Peninsula to shut down. We can assume that external interventions, regulations
and supports are definitely increasing the willingness for small-scale businesses, but as
the two case studies show, more support for vendor associations is not an economically
sustainable concept. On the other hand it is socio-culturally friendly, because members
can share the tourism working load and focus on other livelihood activities as well.
Nevertheless, supporting individual businesses could be a better approach to create
6 Discussion of the Results
67
sustainable livelihoods for shop owners. Furthermore, owners could grow with and
learn from their tourism business over the years. With this approach chances could
increase that the process of internal professionalization of tourism businesses builds up
and vendors develop ownership for their new tasks.
To conclude, souvenir vending requires a wide range of actor assets and capabilities.
Besides financial means and knowledge, access to land, credits, means of production,
social relations to business partners and a functioning institutional background are key
aspects for start-up businesses. The role of organisations supporting small-scale
business (Government of Ethiopia, NGO’s, etc.) must constantly develop access
mechanisms and capabilities of local actors to create a better functioning souvenir
vending system. Local vendors alone will not manage and overcome the current
obstacles hindering larger profits.
6.3
The local Tour Guides: Beneficiaries of a low-investment
Business
The guiding varies in two aspects from the souvenir vending. On the one hand, the
relatively low requirements of asset endowment for guides minimises start-up costs and
on the other hand, a legal, institutionally well-organized background supporting
frequent and stable income flows make the guiding business to a kind of ‘low input with
high output business’. This is characterized by high profit margins for guides, even if
quality of guiding needs further professionalization.
As Figure 9 shows, guides need mainly three assets (foreign language, natural and
cultural knowledge) to get access to a guiding licence. If we compare this to higher
necessary asset endowments of vendors (Figure 8), we could assume that this low
necessity of assets is the main reason for the successful guiding businesses. But, in
general, we also have to consider that the majority of the local guides are not older than
30 years meaning that all of them grew up with better access to the English language
due to improvements in the educational system while the older generations had only
restricted access to an education in English. Additionally, the steady visitor growth at
the sights enabled the younger generation to learn and improve their language skills
through the interaction with the visitors. To sum up, not only the little amount of assets
needed to start guiding makes local guides more successful in their business, but also
their improved manifestations of assets compared to other actors shape their outcomes.
6 Discussion of the Results
68
Furthermore, the BoCTPD licensing system for local guides and the set of the three
locally accepted guiding laws (guiding only with licence, fixed guiding fees and bigger
tourist groups need to take guiding service) are two examples how rights-based access
mechanisms (see chapter 5.2.2) can increase local actors access to the benefits of
tourism. “Before this regulation we were hassling for tourists and tourists often rejected
our service and we earned no money at all” (local tour guide, Ura kebele). Nowadays,
incomes are shared equally, conflicts are not existent anymore and the number of local
beneficiaries increased.
But the relatively high income of guides compared to other community members and
their frequent contact with visitors also changes their relationships towards their own
cultural background and the community they live in. “Tourism is good for our lives, but
some youngsters already changed their hair styles. Even the priests were not able to
talk to them about this” (farmer, Ura kebele). This statement clearly points out the
controversial relationship between tourism and cultural norms. On the one hand,
community members support the idea of economic benefits for individuals from
tourism, but on the other hand these livelihood changes are accompanied with
transculturation. Especially the group of the local guides is frequently exposed to this
phenomenon and mixes up different cultural elements which must not be interpreted
negatively at all. In reality, it is a common process of cultural change out of which new
cultures and sub-cultures can arise. As a result, the social position of the guides rises
due to their stable economic situation, whereas at the same time social connection to the
local community weakens. During some Skill Transects the researcher observed
discrimination of rural cultures and live styles from guides which limited the guides’
linking function between tourists and the rural communities.
To conclude, local guides mainly benefit from their business due to a rights-based
support creating some sort of monopolistic setting for local guides and their
advantageous position in the guiding access web due to their unrivaled language skills.
However, the level of cultural and natural knowledge is quite comparable with the
knowledge of other locals which do not have the language skills for offering guiding
services. However, educational possibilities for guides might increase their quality in
the future.
6 Discussion of the Results
6.4
69
Chances and Risks for CBET in the Face of the
Sustainability Criteria of MOWFORTH and MUNT
This chapter will elaborate on the chances and risks of a prospective CBET
implementation originating from the status quo described above. The seven
sustainability criteria of MOWFORTH and MUNT (see chapter 3.2) are implemented into
this assessment.
6.4.1 Ecological, social, cultural and economic Sustainability
Ecological sustainability is a must for tourism development under the administration of
a prospective Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve. This can only be reached if increasing
tourist flows are channelled to avoid overburdening of singular tourism sights likewise
rare habitats. Therefore, ecological carrying capacity assessments must carefully
analyse effective carrying capacities of eligible tourism destinations around the Lake
Tana considering tourists impacts on ecosystems. Questions of waste disposal,
conversion of land for tourism purposes, resource exploitation (e.g. water, land, etc.)
need to be addressed to determine daily amount of visitors the ecosystems can cope
with. Two aspects need to be mentioned here. First, an external assessment limiting the
amount of visitors is contra productive to the intention of the CBET approach which is
to involve local communities in tourism to create ownership for tourism products.
Second, limited amounts of visitors increase the ecological sustainability but will lead to
decreasing profits. This contradiction might lead to an inefficiency of tourism projects
resulting in their failure. Positive factors to reach ecological sustainability are supported
by the growing number of international tourists who are willing to decrease their
ecological footprint and the rising interest in active ways of travelling with cultural
exchange. However, local tour operators are not showing the willingness to offer ecofriendly tours until now which furthermore threatens ecological sustainability.
When talking about social sustainability, it comes to the question of acceptance of
tourism within the communities. Throughout all method applications, local people
supported the idea of tourism within their surroundings, no matter if the respondents
were engaged in tourism or not. In general, the researcher was overwhelmed by the
astonishing hospitality offered by the local community. This might serve as beneficial
potential for new activities for tourists like collective food preparation or farming. But it
is always a thin line between intercultural sharing and learning and a mere
6 Discussion of the Results
70
commercialisation. Therefore, social sustainability will only be reached if locals accept
the sharing and learning aspect and do not just perceive the visitors as ‘cash cows’. At
the same time, the visitors have to possess a kind of awareness and the will to
participate and to interact with locals. This could be a way to dissolve the intrinsically
false and fabricated social division between the servers and the served through the
physical separation of both groups through resorts or other kinds of tourist enclaves and
could contribute to equal standings of facing cultures. For both groups, tourists and
locals, this process of awareness creation needs to take place first. To minimize social
divisions within communities, further information and understanding about negative
tourism impacts and alleviation and mitigation strategies need to be communicated to
the communities. As the chapter 5.1.1 illustrates, churches and religious leaders are very
central authorities for alleviating social disparities and conflicts and need to be
considered more intensively in the planning of community trainings. Furthermore,
processes of tourism professionalization and commercialisation are already taking
place, e.g. with the establishment of souvenir shops, contributing to weakening of the
hospitality and an increase of a more distant and merely economic supplier-customer
relationship. Certainly, this is a loss according to M OWFORTH and MUNT’s (2009) (see
chapter 3.2) understanding of social sustainability.
Cultural elements like mores of interaction, styles of life, customs and traditions are all
subject to change through the interaction with other cultures. Tourism is a major trigger
for intercultural encounters leading to irreversible alterations. “Culture of course is as
dynamic a feature of human life as society and economy; so the processes of cultural
adaptation and change are not assumed by all in all cases to be a negative effect. But
cultural sustainability refers to the ability to retain or adapt elements of their culture
which distinguish them from other people” (M OWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 104). Different
cultures should meet as equals with no culture dominating the other. Economically
speaking, distinguishing elements are important, because they are unique selling points
for tourism development and their alteration will lead to a decrease in attractiveness for
tourists. Therefore, cultural sustainability becomes important for local communities. But
when western post-modern societies become the worthwhile type of visitors, local
communities aiming for, sustainability can be questioned. Certainly, the tendencies to
abandon traditional ways of living for a ‘metropolitan’ life style exist, as exemplified by
one farmer in Ura kebele who mentioned that it is “desirable to become a farenji [a
westerner, note by author], because they live better lives”. But in general, processes of
6 Discussion of the Results
71
transculturation (see footnote 4) are difficult to observe in the stage of emerging tourism
at the research sites. Further research on this topic could contribute to cultural
sustainability.
Economic sustainability or an increase of local incomes from tourism is not the only
condition of sustainability, as many actors perceive it. It must become clear that a longterm economic benefit can only be assured if other sustainability conditions are seen as
equally important. Actors striving only towards maximizing economic gains often
influence ecological, social and cultural systems negatively. However, many actors low
awareness on this relationship and the short-term thinking about tomorrow rather than
the long-term thinking of the day after tomorrow are threatening sustainability.
However, the higher value of economic profits in a primarily vulnerable livelihood
setting of local actors is understandable.
Furthermore, the vulnerable and low-income livelihoods easily raise interest of locals to
do tourism as soon as one tourism product promises economic gains. An imitation effect
from other community members, as observed at the research sites, quickly raises
competition and lowers incomes. As the example of the souvenir vendors shows
(chapter 5.2.1), economic sustainability is far off from an optimum stage and in its
current organisation not an appropriate promising model. Access limitations to tourism
products could help to increase benefits for individuals, however, limiting access for
others at the same time. Questions about access regulating institutions need to be
clarified. If implementable they can trigger social disharmonies on the one hand but
improve local self-organisation and tourism participation processes on the other.
Currently, local actors’ awareness of the possibility to plan tourism actively is low and
actors express the will to get better support from the BoCTPD. Thus, local actors
primarily support passive participation by consultation (see Table 5).
Another risk on the pathway towards economic sustainability is local actors low
business skills. Therefore, a professional assistance for cost calculations seems
necessary. For many local suppliers it is not obvious that tourism revenues should cover
the costs for production or provision of tourism products, mitigate the effects of
tourist’s presence and offer an appropriate income. Furthermore, a relatively gentle
income increase is advisable to avoid dependency effects on tourism and the rejection of
suddenly unprofitable traditional livelihood activities. High income disparities can also
widen the social gap, as mentioned above.
6 Discussion of the Results
72
6.4.2 Education, Participation and Conservation
The idea of an integration of an element of educational input into the activity is not
claiming high scientific or academic forms of education. Moreover, daily practices of
locals and their relationships with the environment can be of interest for visitors. Both
research sites offer high potential for visitors experiencing rural livelihood practices
(e.g. coffee and honey production, traditional papyrus boats, etc.). Out of a tourist’s
perspective these practices can increase the awareness for cultural ways of living and
norms of the visited community. But unilateral education cannot be the aim planners. In
an optimal sense, hosting cultures should be integrated into education reaching further
than catering for the wishes of visitors. Here it becomes critical. Hosts do not express
the wish for more cultural exchange with the tourists. For them the financial aspect of
tourism is their first priority and educational inputs are merely limited to school
education and improvement of language skills. But as KRIPPENDORF (1987: 143) rightly
mentions, “[b]y supplying the host population with comprehensive information about
tourists and tourism, many misunderstandings could be eliminated, feelings of
aggression prevented, more sympathetic attitudes developed and a better basis for
hospitality and contact with tourist created [...] Such information should aim at
introducing the host population [...] to the tourists’ background: their country, their
daily life (working and hosting conditions, etc.), their reasons for travelling and their
behaviour patterns”. For sure, education is a core principle not only for tourism
sustainability, but also for learning from different cultures. However, it remains a big
challenge at research sites due to the different tourism expectations from consumer and
supplier groups.
Like education, local participation as a major principle is widely promoted in tourism
development agendas but its practical implication is very complex. A further scope of
the participation debate is already explained in Box 1 in chapter 3.2.2 and the research
mirrors many of the doubts about it. It is not questioned that participation can be
regarded as an inherently positive force of change and development. But it has to be
discussed in which way participation, as a form of self-mobilisation and selfdetermination (see Table 5), is possible at current stage. In general, active forms of
participations always need a deeper understanding of the issue people should participate
in. No matter, if this kind of understanding is missing, peoples’ willingness for
participation will decrease. With modern tourism as a very young phenomenon
emerging for not more than a decade at the research sites or in the Lake Tana region in
6 Discussion of the Results
73
general, locals still interfere inhibited and modest with tourism and do not have yet
developed a holistic economical and psychological comprehension of the functioning of
the tourism system, and therefore favouring external control. On the one hand the higher
external interference is understandable, because communities cannot provide tourism
services such as international promotion of their region, marketing or booking, but on
the other hand, by now, tourism consumers and governmental planners clearly sharp
communities as objects, rather than controllers of tourism. Prospective developments
should aim on higher, but realistic local involvements according to capabilities of the
community and additional regulation and support from the outside for services
communities cannot provide. Such a simplification of tourism might come along with a
demystification and could develop people’s comprehension for local tourism
components with the chance for a more active local participation in the near future. The
idea implies very basic tourism development steps in the first phase offering services to
a kind of tourist with low expectations towards quality of the tourism product. The
model sees the first phase as kind of practical training and structuring phase for
inexperienced tourism suppliers integrating tourists in their daily live routines creating
an insight in tourism processes for locals. Additional external organisation of marketing,
booking and guiding by governmental or non-governmental organisations provides the
frame for a smooth operation.
As a well-functioning example in Ethiopia, the NGO Tourism in Ethiopia for
Sustainable Future Alternatives (TESFA)20 can be named offering trekking in the north
of Ethiopia.
It mainly depends on the pathways and techniques leading local actors towards higher
active participation. It is not about forcing actors towards professional tourism
management discouraging their grass-root endeavours at the same time. Not all
‘unprofessional’ ways deviating from the ‘professional’ approaches can be abruptly
transformed to well-organised tourism. As the souvenir vendor analysis (chapter 6.2)
shows, such kind of abrupt professionalization raises business complexity and
additional monetary outputs are low hindering any kind of tourism ownership
development and the partially dissolution of this governmentally forced structure.
Whereas, in the case of the tourist guides external interference was successful backing
guides capabilities and supplying them with a stable income. Out of this satisfaction,
20
For further information check: www.community-tourism-ethiopia.com
6 Discussion of the Results
74
local guides developed a kind of identification with their service, now trying to shape
the future of their tourism destination by writing their own management plan to hand it
over to the BoCTPD. This example shows that out of a passive participation in the
beginning an active can develop if implemented measures are in the right place.
Furthermore, integrating local authorities (church, local politicians, community elders,
etc.) can also be an important technique to raise commitment of locals towards tourism.
To conclude, the attainment of participation as one principle for tourism development is
complicated by itself and even if active participation would be achieved, there will be
no guarantee for agency of the local actors to fulfil other sustainability criteria.
The last sustainability criterion, listed by MOWFORTH and M UNT (2009), is the
conservational aspiration of sustainable forms of tourism assisting specific aspects of
biodiversity or culture preservation. The most classic model to meet this is the
introduction of a conservation or community fund depositing tourism revenues.
Centrally managed, these funds serve either to support nature preservation projects
within the local community or offer a possibility for micro credits for community
members or the community as a whole. The example of the NGO TESFA illustrates that
generated revenues at trekking destinations can be used for providing monetary means
to build schools, mills or other infrastructures to support community livelihoods.
However, current profits of souvenir vendors are too low to transfer money for
conservational purposes. Furthermore, business suppliers will probably question such a
model were not only tourism suppliers are privileged but the community as a whole, no
matter if they participate in tourism or not. On the other hand already existing
traditional institutions like equb or iddir (explanations of the terms can be found in the
Little Amharic Glossary at the end of this study) are a promising condition for an
integration of new structures.
To sum up, the chapter 6.4 lists a variety of chances and risks for each sustainability
criterion interlinking aspects with each other. It became clear that a chance for one
criterion may threaten another criterion or vice versa. Furthermore, critiques of the
sustainability debate mention its imperialism of western cultural values over the ones of
local cultural values. Therefore, the principles cannot be seen as prescriptive and it
should be clear that no establishment would be able to meet all these criteria. As
MOWFORTH and M UNT clearly emphasise, “[i]f they were be universally used for
6 Discussion of the Results
75
making judgements about whether a given practice was sustainable and if all criteria
had to be satisfied, then clearly nothing would be judged as sustainable”
(MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 107). The examples above illustrate the complexity of
achieving an optimum stage of sustainability for tourism development, and thus an
opening towards weaker forms of sustainability seems to be a more appropriate
approach at the research sites. However, critics could mention that a weaker
interpretation of sustainability can also lead to a “distortion and misuse” of the concept
(MOWFORTH/MUNT 2009: 108). That this is not going to happen, planners need to
counteract the tendency of actors to soften sustainability criteria.
7 A locally adapted Vision for Community-based Ecotourism in Lake Tana Region
7
A locally adapted Vision for Community-based
Ecotourism in Lake Tana Region
Referring on the research results and the discussion it is obvious that a sustainable
tourism development meeting all optimum sustainability criteria is nearly impossible.
The complexity of the tourism system – influenced externally by economy, politics,
culture and ecology and internally by various tourism and non-tourism stakeholders and
their varying interests – make an understanding of positive and negative back coupling
effects very difficult. Thus, this chapter will not create an illusionary future perspective
for the Lake Tana tourist destination harmonizing the relationship between ‘hosts’ and
‘guests’ or man and nature, but moreover develops a realistic and locally adapted
sustainable vision from a local actors perspective. As in the end, they are the ones which
have to live with the burdens of tourism developments.
The vision arises from people’s everyday cultures and livelihoods as well as the rich
natural beauty and diversity in the Lake Tana region and the experience of people’s
hospitality, openness and care whenever the research team entered their houses. These
unexplored potentials could be the foundation for more sustainable rural livelihoods
where tourism becomes a part but not the only option in lives of people. Leaving the
locals in their natural and cultural surroundings and making tourists part of it, will
prevent that hosts are just mere tourism objects, rather they will maintain full control
over and preserve their livelihoods. However, in this vision the amount of guests needs
to be limited and regulated to avoid an overloading of rural livelihoods. Indeed, this is
not a problem for income generation, then if done right, activities will meet the tourist
demand and fees will be sufficient enough to secure livelihoods.
Products could be thematic guided day treks with stops at family compounds to
participate in everyday activities. Zege Peninsula’s potential for an educational trek
about coffee production could easily be linked with a final common coffee ceremony
within the local family context where tourists participate. Another product to explain
production cycles is honey. Traditional food preparation bares also a high potential for
guests to participate. Papyrus boat excursions combined with fishing or bird watching
could be an option for the more adventurous and easily other activities could be
developed.
76
7 A locally adapted Vision for Community-based Ecotourism in Lake Tana Region
To avoid the risk of a mere commercialisation of such activities, to secure traditional
livelihoods and to minimize tourism dependency a rotation system could ensure that
hosting families have adequate breaks in between the hosting periods. Such a system
could also increase the amount of people engaged in tourism and secure access for
families not living along the established tourist treks. This could trigger an increase of
social and cultural sustainability compared to today. However, each activity should be
supervised by external as well as internal people to question its impacts and carrying
capacity. But local institutional structures should be used.
From the current economic point of view these new innovative activities bare the
potential to diversify supersaturated vendor and guiding markets, to increase revenues
and to raise the amount of local participants. Due to the low-income livelihood settings
and the limited access to credit and the high risks of long-term indebtedness, a
development of such low-investment products seems preferable. Furthermore, after
stabilisation of revenues the local institutional setting could be used to establish
conservation and community funds to trigger biodiversity preservation on the one hand
and community developments on the other. Throughout this, tourism becomes an
integral approach strengthening other sectors as well.
However, these kinds of activities will need to be triggered from the outside by
BoCTPD, NGO’s or private operators in close cooperation with local actors. Only if
community concerns are listened and solutions are discussed respecting local authorities
and power structures, local acceptance and ownership can develop. However, this can
also mean less involvement of less powerful community members.
This vision is meant to be a stepwise approach. Certainly, not all ideas can be
implemented at once. Planners need to find appropriate measures for a first phase and in
following phases these can be extended. And if locals really develop a functioning
tourism system more complex measures can be added.
77
8 Conclusions
8
78
Conclusions
As described in the chapter 1, tourism in Ethiopia is a very promising industry in
economic terms. The amounts of tourists gradually increased over the last years such as
the tourism revenues. It became prominent to present tourism as the new solution for
poverty eradication, local empowerment or in general as a panacea for other miseries.
But tourism growth does not automatically bring all these positive effects on local
levels. As a competitive industry, private investors primarily see the viability of their
businesses often rejecting social responsible or more sustainable ways of economic
management. In this competition the fittest will survive and in general the local
communities will lose. The Community-based Ecotourism approach can help to
strengthen the power of locals to gain from the industry.
Therefore, this study supports the development of ideas how the communities in Lake
Tana Region can prospectively profit from tourism promoting new ways of tourist
product development linked to local livelihood settings. The study claims that these
ways are more sustainable due to their local dimension reflecting interests of local
communities. However, sustainability can never be reached in an optimal sense and
therefore, weaker, but locally adapted, forms of sustainability should be a realistic goal.
As in the author’s understanding, even weaker forms of sustainable tourism are better
than conventional ones, because sustainable forms decrease the risk of severe
unpredictable impacts on social, cultural and ecological systems. Furthermore, tourist
flows are likely to increase steadily and the question how to face this situation should be
tackled.
To approach a locally adapted idea, the study detached from a mere economic tourism
analysis frame where consumers and suppliers are just rational actors developing the
tourism product. The linking of the basic economic tourism model and with a more
actors-based approach (chapter 3.3) provided interesting data for the understanding of
local tourism systems from an actors’ perspective. The integration of the ‘Theory of
Access’ unfolded new insights in how actors are able to participate in tourism or not.
Such knowledge was very helpful to develop a locally
adapted vision (chapter 7) and could also help to make tourism developments more
effective in the future. Therefore, actor-based approaches should be used for further
8 Conclusions
79
research on tourism to explore the ‘true’ potentials for Community-based Ecotourism
developments.
Although the general idea of the Community-based Ecotourism approach is inherently
positive, the study showed that the willingness and the capacities for local involvement
are relatively low. First, the participatory method applications partly showed locals
discomfort, especially when talking to less powerful actors with a lower social standing,
about active participation. Transferred to a self-determined tourism development this
means that participation, at least in the beginning of CBET, will be a very selective
process with the more powerful dominating the less powerful. Second, many actors
even claimed less participation and a tourism development from the outside. As a result,
a stepwise approach with a gradual improvement of local self-determination is
recommended.
Furthermore, this study always claims the existence of a sufficient demand from the
consumer side. However, a detailed demand analysis for sustainable forms of tourism
for the Lake Tana region is not done so far. Certainly, this should be one of the next
steps to guarantee success for a locally adapted implementation strategy.
To conclude, a pathway towards a more sustainable tourism development compared to
today relies on three basic steps. First, understanding the local context with its human
and natural potentials (tourism supply potentials), second understanding consumer
demands for sustainable forms of tourism and third, merging the two together to an
individual and locally adapted CBET structure. Thus, tourism development in the Lake
Tana region will be more than just transferring best practice examples from divergent
local contexts.
References
vi
References
BEER, B. (2008a): Systematische Beobachtung. In: Bettina Beer (ed.): Methoden
ethnologischer Feldforschung. Berlin, 167 - 189.
BEER, B. (ed.) (2008b): Methoden ethnologischer Feldforschung. Berlin.
BERHANU G.
ET AL .
(2007): Establishment of Abay River Millennium Park.
Unpublished Field Report. Bahir Dar.
BOO, E. (1990): Ecotourism: The Potentials and Pitfalls. World Wildlife Fund. Vol. 1.
Washington D.C.
BRITTON, S. (1991): Tourism, Capital and Place: Towards a Critical Geography of
Tourism. In: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 9(4), 451 - 478.
BUREAU OF CULTURE , TOURISM AND PARKS DEVELOPMENT (BOCTPD) (2011a): Lake
Tana Tourism Destination and Networking Development Plan. Bahir Dar.
BUREAU
OF
CULTURE , TOURISM
AND
PARKS
DEVELOPMENT
(BOCTPD) (2011b):
Tourism Destination Development Plan for Zegie and its Vicinities. Bahir Dar.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA) (2012): The World Factbook. Ethiopia.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html
(Date:
10.03.2012).
CHAMBERS, R. (1992): Rural Appraisal: Rapid, Relaxed and Participatory. Institute of
Development Studies. Discussion Paper 311. Brighton.
COOKE, B. & U. KOTHARI (eds.) (2001) Participation: The New Tyranny?. London,
New York.
DESAI, V. & R.B. POTTER (eds.) (2006): Doing Development Research. Los Angeles.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, LAND ADMINISTRATION
AND
USE AUTHORITY
(EPLAUA) (2006a): Proceedings of the National Consultative and Promotional
Workshop on Lake Tana and its Environs: Conservation, Utilization, Development and
Threats. November 6-7, 2006. Bahir Dar.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, LAND ADMINISTRATION
AND
USE AUTHORITY
(EPLAUA) (2006b): Ecological Significances, Threats and Management Options of
References
vii
Lake Tana-Associated Wetlands. Part I: Analysis of the Biophysical and Cultural
Resources, and Socio-economic Factors. Bahir Dar.
ETHIOPIAN NEWS AGENCY (ENA): Beles Multipurpose Hydroelectric Power Project to
be inaugurated. http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2010/May/13May10/112604.htm
(Date: 10.03.2012).
EVANGELISCHER ENTWICKLUNGSDIENST (EED) (2007): Sickerrate in kenianischen
Tourismus gesunken. In: Tourism Watch 2007 (47), 13 - 14.
FENNELL, D. (2001): A Content Analysis of Ecotourism Definitions. In: Current Issues
in Tourism 4 (5), 403 - 421.
FETENE, G. (2005): Lake Tana and its Tourism Potentials. Bahir Dar.
FLICK, U. (2007): Qualitative Sozialforschung. Eine Einführung. Reinbek.
FLICK, U. (2003): Triangulation in der qualitativen Forschung. In: Flick, U.; E. von
Kardorff & I. Steinke (eds.): Qualitative Forschung. Ein Handbuch. Reinbek, 309 - 318.
FLICK, U.; E. VON KARDORFF & I. STEINKE (eds.) (2003): Qualitative Forschung. Ein
Handbuch. Reinbek.
HÄUSLER , N. & W. STRASDAS (2003): Training Manual for Community-based
Tourism. Addendum to the ‘Ecotourism Training Manual for Protected Area
Managers’. Zschortau.
HEIN, W. (1997a): Tourism and Sustainable Development: Empirical Analysis and
Concepts of Sustainability. A Systems Approach. In: Hein, W. (ed.): Tourism and
Sustainable Development. Schriften des Deutschen Übersee-Instituts Hamburg. Vol. 41.
Hamburg, 359 - 400.
HEIN, W. (ed.) (1997b): Tourism and Sustainable Development. Schriften des
Deutschen Übersee-Instituts Hamburg. Vol. 41. Hamburg.
HILL , J. & T. GALE (eds.) (2009): Ecotourism and Environmental Sustainability.
Principles and Practice. Farnham.
HRADIL, S. (ed.) (1992): Zwischen Bewusstsein und Sein. Opladen.
HUNTER , C. & H. GREEN (1995): Tourism and the Environment. A Sustainable
Relationship?. London.
References
viii
INTERNATIONAL UNION
RESOURCES (IUCN)
FOR THE
CONSERVATION
OF NATURE AND
NATURAL
(1980): The World Conservation Strategy. Geneva.
JAFARI, J. (2001): The Scientification of Tourism. In: Smith, V.L. & M. Brent (eds.):
Hosts and Guests Revisited. Tourism Issues of the 21st Century. New York, 28 - 41.
KELLE, U. & C. ERZBERGER (2003): Qualitative und quantitative Methoden: kein
Gegensatz. In: Flick, U.; E. von Kardorff & I. Steinke (eds.): Qualitative Forschung. Ein
Handbuch. Reinbek, 299 - 309.
KOTHARI, U. (2001): Power, Knowledge and Social Control in Participatory
Development. In: Cooke, B. & U. Kothari (eds.): Participation: The New Tyranny?.
London, 139 – 152.
KRIPPENDORF, J. (1987): The Holidaymakers. Understanding the Impact of Leisure and
Travel. London.
KUMAR , S. (2002): Methods for Community Participation. A Complete Guide for
Practitioners. London.
LAMNEK, S. (2005): Qualitative Sozialforschung. Weinheim, Basel.
LEDBURY, R. (1997): Sustainable Tourism: A Review and the Research Agenda. In:
Hein, W. (ed.): Tourism and Sustainable Development. Schriften des Deutschen
Übersee-Instituts Hamburg. Vol. 41. Hamburg, 21 - 52.
LELE, S.M. (1991): Sustainable Development: A critical Review. In: World
Development 19 (6), 607 - 621.
MARYE, A. (2010): Bahir Dar Blue Nile River Millennium Park. Strategic Plan for
2010-2014. Bahir Dar.
MAYRING, P. (2002): Einführung in die qualitative Sozialforschung. Eine Anleitung
zum qualitativen Denken. Weinheim, Basel.
MEADOWS ET AL. (1972): The Limits to Growth. London.
MICHAEL SUCCOW FOUNDATION (2011): Feasibility Study for a Potential Biosphere
Reserve Lake Tana. Greifswald.
MINISTRY
OF
FINANCE
AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (MOFED) (2010):
Performance Evaluation of the First Five Years Development Plan (2006-2010) and
Growth and Transformation Planning (GTP) Next Five Years (2011-2015). A Draft
Document for Discussion with the Regional/City Administrations. Addis Ababa.
References
MINISTRY
ix
OF
FINANCE
AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (M OFED) (2006): Ethiopia:
Building on Progress. A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End
Poverty (PASDEP). Addis Ababa.
MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES (MOWR) (2010): Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment of the Ribb Irrigation and Drainage Project. Addis Ababa.
MOSSE, D. (2001): ‘People’s knowledge’, Participation and Patronage: Operations and
Representations in Rural Development. In: Cooke, B. & U. Kothari (eds.): Participation:
The New Tyranny?. London, 16 - 35.
MOWFORTH, M. & I. MUNT (2009): Tourism and Sustainability. Development,
Globalisation and New Tourism in the Third World. London, New York.
MÜLLER,
H.
(2007):
Tourismus
und
Ökologie.
Wechselwirkungen
und
Handlungsfelder. München.
ORTIZ, F. (1995): Cuban Counterpoint. Tobacco and Sugar. London.
PEARCE, D. (1993): Blueprint 3. Measuring Sustainable Development. London.
POPPER, K. R. (1984): Logik der Forschung. Tübingen.
PRETTY, J. & R. HINE (1999): Participatory Appraisal for Community Assessment:
Principles and Methods. Centre for Environment and Science, University of Essex.
Colchester.
RIBOT, J.C. & N.L. PELUSO (2003): A Theory of Access. In: Rural Sociology 68 (2),
153 - 181.
RICHARDS, G. & D. HALL (eds.) (2000): Tourism and Sustainable Community
Development. London, New York.
SCHMUDE, J. & P. NAMBERGER (2010): Tourismusgeographie. Darmstadt.
SMITH, V.L. & M. BRENT (eds.): Hosts and Guests Revisited. Tourism Issues of the 21st
Century. New York.
STECK, B., STRASDAS, W. & E. GUSTEDT (1999): Tourism in Technical Co-operation:
A guide to the Conception, Planning and Implementation of Project-accompanying
Measures in Regional Rural Development and Nature Conservation. Eschborn.
STRASDAS, W. (2002): The Ecotourism Training Manual for Protected Area Managers.
Zschortau.
References
x
SUCHANEK, N. (2001): Die dunklen Seiten des globalisierten Tourismus. Zu den
ökologischen, ökonomischen und sozialen Risiken des internationalen Tourismus. In:
Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 47, 32 - 39.
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL (1996): Parks or People?. Survival 35.
TAYLOR, H. (2001): Insights into Participation from Critical Management and Labour
Process Perspectives. In: Cooke, B. & U. Kothari (eds.): Participation: The New
Tyranny?. London, 122 - 152.
THE INTERNATIONAL ECOTOURISM SOCIETY (TIES) (2006): Fact Sheet: Global
Ecotourism. Washington D.C.
TOURISM STREAM ACTION STRATEGY COMMITTEE (1990): An Action Strategy for
Sustainable Tourism Development. Globe ’90 Conference Vancouver, Canada. March
1990. Vancouver.
TRÖGER, S. (2004): Handeln zur Ernährungssicherheit im Zeichen gesellschaftlichen
Umbruchs. Untersuchungen auf dem Ufipa-Plateau im Südwesten Tansanias.
Geographische Entwicklungsforschung 27. Saarbrücken.
TURNER, L. & J. ASH (1975): The Golden Hordes: International Tourism and the
Pleasure Periphery. London.
UNITED NATIONS WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION (UNWTO) (2012): World
Tourism Barometer. Vol. 10. http://mkt.unwto.org/en/barometer (Date: 14.02.2012).
UNITED NATIONS WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION (UNWTO) (2011): Tourism
Highlights. Edition 2011. http://mkt.unwto.org/en/content/tourism-highlights (Date:
14.02.2012).
UNITED NATIONS WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION (UNWTO) (2009): Tourism
Highlights.
Edition
2009.
http://www.e-
unwto.org/content/l80322/fulltext?p=7f890d9c18254680b0b9fdffc19b7169&pi=0#secti
on=890060&page=1&locus=0 (Date: 08.03.2012).
VALENTINE, P.S. (1992): Review. Nature-based tourism. In: Weiler, B. & C.M. Hall
(eds.): Special Interest Tourism. London, 105 - 128.
VORLAUFER,
K.
(2003):
Tourismus
in
Entwicklungsländern.
Auswirkungen, Tendenzen. In: Geographische Rundschau 3, 4 - 13.
Bedeutung,
References
xi
VORLAUFER, K. (1997): Conservation, Local Communities and Tourism in Africa.
Conflicts, Symbiosis, Sustainable Development. In: Hein, W. (ed.): Tourism and
Sustainable Development. Schriften des Deutschen Übersee-Instituts Hamburg. Vol. 41.
Hamburg. 53 - 123.
WEAVER, D.B. & L.T. LAWTON (2007): Twenty Years on: the State of Contemporary
Ecotourism Research. In: Tourism Management 28, 1168-1179.
WEILER, B. & C.M. HALL (1992) (eds.): Special Interest Tourism. London.
WILLIS, K. (2006): Interviewing. In: Desai, V. & R.B. Potter (eds.): Doing
Development Research. Los Angeles, London.
WOLDEGABRIEL G. & T. SOLOMON (2006): Ecological Significances, Threats and
Management Options of Lake Tana-Associated Wetlands. Analysis of the Biophysical
and Cultural Resources, and Socio-economic Factors. Environmental Protection Land
Administration and Use Authority (EPLAUA). Bahir Dar.
WOOD, M.E. (2002): Ecotourism: Principles, Practices & Policies for Sustainability.
Paris.
WORLD BANK (2006): Ethiopia. In Makeda’s Footsteps: Towards a Strategy for ProPoor Tourism Development. Addis Ababa.
WORLD COMMISSION
ON
ENVIRONMENT
AND
DEVELOPMENT (WCED) (1987): Our
Common Future. Report. Oxford.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (WEF) (2011): The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness
Report 2011. Beyond the Downturn. Geneva.
Little Amharic Glossary
xii
Little Amharic Glossary
Araki: It is a potent grain alcohol, made from tef.
Equb: It is a traditional bank where members contribute a small amount of money every
month. The money is paid out to one member at once following a circulating system.
Throughout the year each member will perceive a larger amount of money e.g. for costintensive investments.
Farenji: Amharic for ‘westerner’
Iddir: The basic function of the iddir is to help families bury their dead. It does this by
providing tools and labor for digging graves, tents for the mourners, money to meet the
burial costs, financial support for the needs of the family and emotional support for the
bereaved. To benefit from these services household representatives pay regular dues and
take actively part in the ceremonies.
Kad: catha edulis is a natural stimulant, found in the flowering evergreen tree or large
shrub which grows in East Africa and Southern Arabia. It reaches heights from 10 feet
to 20 feet and its scrawny leaves resemble withered basil.
Kebele: It is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia.
Noug: Guizotia abyssinica is an oil-seed crop, indigenous to Ethiopia.
Showa: It is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within
the Ethiopian Empire. The Ethiopian modern capital Addis Ababa is located at its
center.
Tankwa: Traditional papyrus boat used by locals in the Lake Tana region
Teff: Eragrostis tef is a species of lovegrass native to the northern Ethiopian Highlands
Tej: It is a mead or honey wine that is flavored with the powdered leaves and twigs of
geshu (Rhamnus prinoides)
Annex A: Tourism Statistics
Annex A: Tourism Statistics
A. 1 Ethiopia’s international Tourist Arrivals and Tourism
Receipts from 1995 to 2009 (WEF 2011: 188)
xiii
Annex B: Methods
xiv
Annex B: Methods
B.1 Participatory Method Applications
Method
Research foci
Target group(s)
Location
kebele leader Ura
Zege to Ura
kebele
kebele leader Ura
Ura kebele
kebele leader Tis
Abay
Tis Abay
kebele
kebele leader
Yemoshit
Yemoshit
kebele
Ura to
Yiganda
kebele
research site overview;
1
Transect
external resources (supply,
infrastructure, potential attractions)
research site overview;
2
Transect
external resources (supply,
infrastructure, potential attractions)
research site overview;
3
Transect
external resources (supply,
infrastructure, potential attractions)
research site overview;
4
Transect
external resources (supply,
infrastructure, potential attractions)
5
Skill
Transect
cultural, historical, natural
knowledge of guides
tour guide Zege
6
Skill
Transect
cultural, historical, natural
knowledge of guides
round trip:
tour guide Tis Issat Tis Abay to
Falls
Tis Issat
Falls
Positive/negative impacts of tourism
activities;
7
Spider
Diagram
locals interpretations on tourism;
locals interests in tourism;
two male souvenir
vendors
Ura kebele
(association)
sustainability of tourism activities
Positive/negative impacts of tourism
activities;
8
Spider
Diagram
locals interpretations on tourism;
locals interests in tourism;
three female
souvenir vendors
(individual)
Yiganda
kebele
four female
souvenir vendors
(association)
Tis Abay
kebele
sustainability of tourism activities
Positive/negative impacts of tourism
activities;
9
Spider
Diagram
locals interpretations on tourism;
locals interests in tourism;
sustainability of tourism activities
Annex B: Methods
xv
Positive/negative impacts of tourism
activities;
10
Spider
Diagram
locals interpretations on tourism;
locals interests in tourism;
one female
souvenir vendor
(individual)
Tis Abay
kebele
sustainability of tourism activities
local livelihoods;
11
Trend
Analysis
problem settings of livelihoods;
importance of tourism for people’s
livelihoods;
four male souvenir
vendors
Ura kebele
(individual)
capabilities/threads for livelihoods
local livelihoods;
12
Trend
Analysis
problem settings of livelihoods;
importance of tourism for people’s
livelihoods;
three female
souvenir vendors
(association)
Ura kebele
four male farmers
Yiganda
kebele
two female
souvenir vendors
(individual)
Yiganda
kebele
one female
souvenir vendor
(individual)
Ura kebele
two male farmers
Ura kebele
capabilities/threads for livelihoods
local livelihoods;
13
Trend
Analysis
problem settings of livelihoods;
importance of tourism for people’s
livelihoods;
capabilities/threads for livelihoods
local livelihoods;
14
Trend
Analysis
problem settings of livelihoods;
importance of tourism for people’s
livelihoods;
capabilities/threads for livelihoods
15
Impact
Diagram
economical/social/environmental
sustainability of livelihood
strategies;
problem settings of livelihoods;
capabilities/threads for livelihoods
16
Impact
Diagram
economical/social/environmental
sustainability of livelihood
strategies;
problem settings of livelihoods;
capabilities/threads for livelihoods
17
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
access to the tourism products or
potential tourism products
leader of tour
stakeholder involvement in planning guides association
process;
on Zege
stakeholder interactions
Ura kebele
Annex B: Methods
18
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
xvi
access to the tourism products or
potential tourism products
stakeholder involvement in planning kebele leader Ura
process;
Ura kebele
stakeholder interactions
19
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
access to the tourism products or
potential tourism products
two female
stakeholder involvement in planning souvenir vendors
process;
(association)
Ura kebele
stakeholder interactions
20
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
21
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
access to the tourism products or
potential tourism products
priest
(administrator of
stakeholder involvement in planning
churches on Zege
process;
Peninsula)
stakeholder interactions
Ura kebele
access to the tourism products or
potential tourism products
two female
stakeholder involvement in planning souvenir vendors
process;
(association)
Tis Abay
kebele
stakeholder interactions
22
23
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
Network
Diagram/
VennDiagram
access to the tourism products or
potential tourism products
Tourist
Information and
stakeholder involvement in planning
Supervision
process;
Officer
stakeholder interactions
Tis Abay
kebele
access to the tourism products or
potential tourism products
kebele leader Tis
stakeholder involvement in planning
Abay
process;
stakeholder interactions
Tis Abay
kebele
Annex B: Methods
xvii
B.2 Pictures from the PRA Sessions
Spider Diagram on tourism impacts
PRA sessions with farmers (left) and kebele leaders (right)
Trend Analysis on livelihoods
Annex B: Methods
xviii
B.3 Guiding Questions for Expert Interviews
Expert for community-based tourism, Addis Ababa University (Prof. Dr. M. Feseha)
Can you tell me about the background of your community-based tourism project in Adwa.
Why did it fail?
What are institutional weaknesses hindering CBET development?
Can you think of positive impacts (environmentally, socially, financially …) on local
livelihoods of Community-based Ecotourism?
Can you think of negative impacts on local livelihoods of Community-based Ecotourism?
Is there any critique on CBET you want to mention?
What is your definition of Community-based Ecotourism?
What is your understanding of ecotourism?
Expert for tourism development, SNV Netherlands (Dr. G. Fetene);
Expert on ecology and wildlife in Lake Tana region, BoCTPD (A. Marye);
Expert on history and heritage in Lake Tana region, BoCTPD (F. Adugna);
Head of Department of Heritage Conservation and Tourism Development, BoCTPD (M.
Mulugeta);
Expert on wildlife in Lake Tana region, Bahir Dar University (A. Shimeles)
Based on your opinion, what are the major tourist attractions within and around Lake Tana?
Which activities, according to you, tourists want to do during their visit in LTR?
Based on your opinion, what forms of tourism development will be suitable within and
around Lake Tana?
How did tourism develop over the last years in LTR?
Did points of interest of tourists change?
What is your understanding of ecotourism?
What is your definition of Community-based Ecotourism?
Do you already know community-based (eco)tourism projects in LTR?
What do you think are limiting factors for the development of CBET in LTR?
Do you think the local communities have the capabilities (human, social, financial capitals)
to plan and manage CBET projects? Can you give examples?
What kind of support do they need?
Can you think of positive impacts (environmentally, socially, financially …) on local
livelihoods of Community-based Ecotourism?
Can you think of negative impacts on local livelihoods of Community-based Ecotourism?
Is there any critique on CBET you want to mention?
Do you have an idea of activities, events, products and services communities could offer the
tourists?
Can you think of any alternatives to CBET to improve local livelihoods?
How does your organization try to implement CBET projects?
Annex B: Methods
xix
Manager of the sustainable tourism project TESFA (Tourism in Ethiopia for Sustainable
Future Alternatives), (A. Milion);
Manager of community campsite Tim & Kim Village, Gorgora in Lake Tana region (T.
Otte)
How did the idea of your project come about?
How difficult was it to achieve what you have in your project?
What are requirements you have to fulfill to start a project like this?
What is the current management structure of your project?
How has the project impacted the local community?
Have you outsourced any of the services to the community?
Is the community capable to manage a project like this by themselves?
How many visitors come to your project yearly on average?
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
xx
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their
special Features
C.1 Major Bird Sites around Lake Tana (adapted from BOCTPD
2011a: 23ff)
No
Site Name
Location from
the Lake
Dominant species
1
Bahir Dar lakeshore
South
White Pelicans. Open-billed Storks, Whitefaced Whistling Ducks, Knobbilled Ducks,
Great Black-headed Gulls, White-winged
Black Terns Darters, Fish eagles
2
Debre Mariam
Island
South; North of
Cherechera
Saddle billed Stork. Sandpipers, Notable
counts Cattle Egrets, Sacred Ibises, Egyptian
Geese, Garganey and Crowned Cranes
3
Mechile and fishery
Research Center
South; around
Bahir Dar
Little Grebes, Reed Cormorants, Spur-winged
Geese, Red-knobbed Coots, African Jacanas
and Spur-winged Plovers, Marabou Storks,
Pied Kingfishers.
4
Cherechera to
Abbay Bridge area,
Bahir Dar
South at the
Blue Nile
outflow
African Darters, African Fish Eagles, Hadada
Ibis, Egrets, Sacred Ibises, Egyptian Geese,
and Spur-winged Plovers
South east
White Pelicans, Squacco Herons, Goliath
Herons, Open-billed Storks, Glossy Ibises,
Marsh Harriers, African Jacanas, Common
Pratincoles, Black-tailed Godwits, Ruff and
Great Black headed Gulls
South West
African Pygmy Geese, African Jacanas and
White-backed, Ducks broods, storks, ibises,
ducks, cranes and Waders. White-faced
Whistling Ducks, Marsh Harriers, Crowned
Cranes, Spur-winged Plovers, Snipe
(Eurasian?), Ruff, Great Cattle Egrets, Blackheaded Gulls and Caspian Terns
Central islands
Black-tailed Godwits. Very few birds of any
kind were found in open water areas. Whitefaced Whistling Ducks, Marsh Harriers, Spurwinged Plovers, Great Cattle Egrets, Blackheaded Gulls and Caspian Terns. Usually the
only species present were often single Great
5
6
7
Korata (N and S
sites), Gelda River
mouth and wetland
Yiganda Marsh,
Zegie to Gilgel
Abbay inflow Delta
Deke and
Dagastifanos islands
and associated
forests and wetlands
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
xxi
Cormorants, White-winged Black Terns and
Crowned cranes
8
9
Gorgora/Seraba
extending up to
Dirma River (north)
Delgi East and West
(Chemera), Selasie,
Abrjha (Mandaba)
to Gorgora
10
Shesher-Welala
wetlands
11
Wagatera (Kerstos
Semera) extends to
Fogera Plain
(Gumara to Rib
River) river mouth
and lakeshore
North
Goliath, Herons, Woolly-necked Storks, Spurwinged Geese, Crowned Cranes, Ruff, White
winged Black Terns. African Darters, and
Fulvous and White-faced Whistling, Ducks,
Egyptian Geese, Yellow billed Ducks,
Garganey, African Fish Eagles, Red-knobbed
Coot, Eurasian Cranes, Great Black headed
Gulls. Hippopotamuses Cattle Egrets, African
Spoonbills, Common Teal and Shovelers,
Pallid Harriers, Common Pratincoles and
waders plus, Glossy Ibis and Pintail
Western to
North Western
Egyptian Geese, Crowned Cranes, Ruff. Black
headed Herons, Glossy Ibises, Wattled Ibises,
Egyptian Geese, Ruff. Wetland species was
recorded. Great Cormorants, Sacred, Ibises,
African Fish Eagles, Lesser Black-backed
Gulls and Black-headed, Gulls, Cattle Egrets
Eastern in
settlement area
White Pelican, Cattle Egret, Little Egret,
Yellow billed Egret, Great White Egret, Grey
Heron, Goliath Heron, Sacred Ibis, Glossy
Ibis, Whitefaced Whistling Duck Egyptian
Goose, Spur winged Goose, European
Wigeon, Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Southern
Pochard, Common Crane, Northern Crowned
Crane, Avocet
Eastern
Reed Cormorant, White Pelican, Cattle Egret,
Little Egret, Yellow-billed Egret, Great White
Egret, Grey Heron, Goliath Heron, Sacred Ibis,
Glossy Ibis, White-faced Whistling Duck
Egyptian Goose, Spur-winged Goose,
European Wigeon, Pintail, Northern Shoveler,
Southern Pociohard, Common Crane, Northern
Crowned Crane, Avocet
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
xxii
C.2 Islands in Lake Tana and their special Features (FETENE
2005: 19 ff)
Regions
of Lake
Tana
No Islands
Monasteries/
churches
Southern
1
Debre
Mariam
Mariam
It is located around the source of Blue Nile
River and founded by Abune Tadiyos
during the reign of Emperor Amde Tsion
(14th century). It is well known for its hippo
colony and bird watching. Inside the
monastery are drums made from clay,
parchment books and crosses made from
bronze. It is situated on an island
surrounded by Blue Nile River and Lake
Tana.
2
Kibran
Gebriel
Abune Zeyohannes founded it during the
reign of Emperor Amde Tsion (14th century)
and the church is surrounded with dense
forest. Wildlife (birds, insects, apes, etc.),
the architecture of the building, silver and
bronze crowns, parchment books (supported
by religious pictures), icons, bells, 17 types
of crosses made from wood and bronzes are
the major attractions of this monastery.
Also: storehouse built by Atse Fasil,
candlestick and basket (ageligil) made from
wood, beds of former kings are attracting
various tourists. It is forbidden for women
to visit this monastery.
3
Entos
Eyesus
Abune Zeyohannes founded it during the
reign of Emperor Amde Tsion (14th
century). It is located near to Kibran Gebriel
and covered with dense forests. In this
monastery, there are ancient buildings that
are believed to be used as prisons, wildlife
(bird), crosses made out of silver and wood,
ancient books and clothes made out of
hides. It is the best place for watching
souvenir production.
4
Bet Menzo
No church
Small island covered with forest and located
300 meters away from Welete Petros and
best place for fishing.
South
eastern
Special features
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
xxiii
5
Genjaba 1
Michael
Small island located south of Rema
Medhane Alem with total area of about 400
m2. Good place for watching birds and
fishing
6
Genjaba 2
No church
Small island located northwest of Genjaba 1
with a total area of about 300 m2
7
Rema 1
Medhanealem
It was founded by Abune Nob during the
reign of Emperor Yisaq (1414 -1429). In the
holy of holies, there are bees without a hive
whose honey is given for the devotee after
communion service and it is believed honey
cure from different disease. Dead bodies of
Atse Sertse Dingle and religious leaders are
preserved in the boxes. Three stone bells,
manuscripts, cap of Welete Petros, icons
which are said to be brought from
Jerusalem, colourful cloaks are also major
tourist attractions of this church. This island
is best place for bird watching.
8
Rema 2
No church
Small island located southwest of Rema 1
with a total area of about 300 m2
9
Mitsile
Fasiledese
It is covered with dense forests and is
breeding place of birds. Watching different
types of bird, nests, and listening to birds
makes the visit interesting for tourists. The
church is under reconstruction.
10
Werqaqit
No church
Small stony island located at eastern part of
Tana Qirkos (200 meters away) and it is
best place for watching birds.
11
Chekla
Menzo
No church
It is located near to Kirstos Samra and there
is an old building believed to have been
built by Atse Iyasu (similar to Fasil building
in Gondar).
North
western
12
Deset Bete
No church
Small island covered with forest
13
Fikir
Mecheresha
No church
Small stony island
North
eastern
14
Metsrha
Mariam
Mariam
Small island located near to Enfranz. In this
church, there is the grave of Aste Eyasu. In
addition, it is interesting site for watching
birds.
15
Fikir Mefija
1
No church
Small stony island and best place for bird
watching
Eastern
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
Central
xxiv
16
Fikir Mefija
2
No church
Small stony island located near to Fikir
Mefija 1 and best place for bird watching.
17
Dek
Arsema
Mariam
It was founded during the reign of Emperor
Atse Seyifered (14th century). Crosses
(made from iron, bronze and silver), icons,
different parchment books (supported by
religious pictures), mural paintings are
major potentials of this monastery which are
attracting tourists.
Kota Mariam
It was founded during the reign of Emperor
Atse Yikunu Amlak. Excessively designed
windows and doors, icons, basket (agelgil)
made out of wood, crosses, clothes of
former kings, books, drums, candlesticks,
boxes (made by Atse Yikunu Amlak) are
major tourism resources.
Narga Silasie
It was founded by Etegie Mintiwab. Ancient
arts reflected in the windows, walls and
doors, different parchment books, icons,
crosses, beds of Atse Eyasu and his mother
Mintiwab (17th century), prison house, the
grave of Atse Eyasu and Mintiwab are
major tourist attractions
Zibd Medhane
Alem
It was founded during the reign of Emperor
Atse Yikunu Amlak. Different parchment
books, icons, crosses and so on are major
tourism resources.
Joga
Yohannes
Gadena
Giorgis
Woba Kidane
Mihret
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
South
western
Northern
xxv
18
Daga
Estifanos
Estifanos
The monastery is founded by Aba Hirut
Amlak during the reign of Emperor Atse
Yikunu Amlak (13th century). Icons, clothes
of former kings, golden crowns, moral
paintings, different ancient books are major
wealth’s of Daga. Also coffins of some of
former prominent Emperors of Ethiopia are
kept mummified; Yekuno Amlak (12681283), Dawit (1382-1430), Zera Yakob
(1434-1468), Zedngle (1603-1604) and
Fasiledas (1632-1667). There are farmlands
and dense forest. It is forbidden for female
to visit.
19
Goz 1
No church
Small island located near to Gurar port of
Dek Island.
20
Goz 2
No church
Small island located near to Gurar port of
Dek Island
21
Gontergie 1
No church
Very small island located near to Forie
Mariam of Zege Peninsula and it is best
place for watching birds.
22
Gontergie 2
No church
Very small island located near to Gontergie
1of Zege Peninsula and it is best place for
watching birds.
23
Birgida
Mariam
Mariam
There is a small church that was built during
the reign of Haile Selassie. The original
building was destroyed in a thunderstrom.
24
Angara
Tekle
Haimanot
Tekle
Haimanot
It is rich in its parchment, paintings, ancient
crosses and drums.
25
Gelila
Eyesus
Eyesus
An island covered with dense forest and it
has parchment paintings, cups (made from
horn) and beds.
26
Jebera
Mariam
Mariam
It is a small island with a small building,
which is located north of Gelila.
27
Arba Duba
Deset
No church
It is a small stony island 150 meters far from
the coast and located south of Gorgora Port.
It serves for fishing for local fishermen.
28
Debra Deset
No church
It is small stony island 100 meters far from
the coast and found northwest of Likgubaye
Deset. It serves for fishing for local
fishermen.
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
xxvi
29
Gulu Deset
No church
It is small stony island 50 meters far from
the coast and located west of Likgubaye
Deset. It serves for fishing for local
fishermen.
30
Likgubaye
Deset
No church
An island covered by forest and located
west of Angara Tekle Haimanot and 20
meters far from it.
31
Welet
Petrose
No church
Small island located south western part of
Angara Tekle Haimanot and 20 meters far
from Angara Tekle Haimanot.
32
Gedlu Deset
No church
Small island located south west of Birgida
Mariam and 10 meters far from the coast.
33
Aba Samuel
Deset
No church
Small island located southwest of Mendaba
Medhanelem
34
Deset
Giorgis
No church
Small island with old building which is
located south of Mendaba Medhanelem
35
Deset Silasie
No church
Small island located south of Mendaba
Medhanelem
36
Sekela
Mikael
No church
Small island located East of Mendaba
Medhanelem
37
Inbethe
Meskel
Deset
No church
Small island located west of Mendaba
Medhanelem
38
Simane
Deset
No church
Small island located north of Inbethe
Meskel Deset.
39
Bahit Deset
No church
Small stony island located north of Jebera. It
is situated relatively at high elevation and
one can see easily from different part of the
lake.
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
xxvii
C.3 Peninsulas around Lake Tana and their special Features
(FETENE 2005: 25 ff)
Region of
Lake Tana
South western
No
Peninsulas
Monasteries/churches
Special features
1
Zege
Debre Silasie
Its administration is with
Ura Kidane Mihret and
most of its relics are found
in the storehouse of Ura
Kidane Mihret.
Ura Kidane Mihret
It was founded during the
reign of Atse Amde Tsion.
Manuscripts, crowns,
crosses made from gold and
silver, icons, decorated
walls with religious
pictures, architecture of
window and doors,
vestments, silver drum and
ancient storehouse are some
of the tourist attractions.
Mehal Zege Giorgis
It was founded by Abune
Betre Mariam during 13th
century. In the monastery,
crosses (silver), drum (made
from bronze, wood and
silver), different parchment
books, clothes of former
kings, umbrella made from
silver, architecture of
windows and doors, icons,
decorated walls with
religious pictures are major
tourism resources.
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
Betre Mariam
xxviii
It was founded by Abune
Betre Lomiyios during 13th
century and its
administration is with
Mehal Zege Giorgis. The
wall of the church is
decorated with religious
pictures and the church
reflects ancient arts.
Azwa Mariam
It was founded during the
regime of Atse Amde Tsion.
Its administration is with
Ura Kidane Mihret, and
some of its attractions are
found in the storehouse of
Ura Kidane Mihret. The
religious pictures of other
churches believed to be
drawn in this monastery and
its wall is well decorated
with religious pictures.
Yiganda Tekle
It was founded during the
Haimanot
reign of Atse Amde Tsion.
It is situated on a hilltop of
Zege Peninsula (Mt. Ararat)
with a scenic view over
Lake Tana. Crosses made
from gold and silver,
crowns, different parchment
books and clothes of former
kings are major tourism
resources.
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
Forie Mariam
xxix
It is located in Afaf, the
market place for local
community. In the church,
there are parchment books,
crosses, crowns, and bells.
Western
2
Istumit (mouth
No church
It is a place where little
of Gilgel
Abay joins Lake Tana. It is
Abbay)
also the best place for
watching birds and hippo
colonies.
Eastern
3
Kristos Samra
Kristos Samra
It is a place for annual
pilgrimage and it is rich in
parchment books, icons,
royal garments, crowns,
crosses and so on.
Jigefa Tekle Haimanot
It is located near to Kristos
Samra and its administration
is with Kristos Samra.
Tana Qirkos
It is well known with it
ancient parchment books,
royal garments, paintings
and the like. Females are
forbidden to visit this
church.
Yared
Recently built church near
to Tana Qirkos.
Qus quam
Church located near to Tana
Qirkos and serve only for
nuns.
Annex C: Destinations around Lake Tana and their special Features
Northern
4
Man Idaba
xxx
Man Idaba
The monastery was founded
Medhanealem
by Atse Amde Tsion in
1317. It is 5 km away from
Gorgora and it is rich both
in cultural and natural
attractions.