@article{10.11648/j.ajbes.20210701.14,
  author = {Ntiranyibagira Elysée and Niyondiko Dominique and Habonayo Richard and Havyarimana Célestin},
  title = {Evolution, Factors and Ecological and Socio-Economic Impacts of Ecotourism in Rusizi National Park (Burundi)},
  journal = {American Journal of Biological and Environmental Statistics},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {29-38},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajbes.20210701.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbes.20210701.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajbes.20210701.14},
  abstract = {In Africa, conservation policies have been often legitimated by socio-economic arguments that include ecotourism projects in most of protected areas. In Burundi, ecotourism activities started in the 1980s. However, they have never been evaluated to appreciate their contribution to finance conservation and local development. The study carried out in the Rusizi National Park responds to this concern. It aimed to: (i) analyze the evolution of the organization, the pricing strategy and the touristic movement, (ii) analyze the evolution and use of touristic revenues and (iii) analyze the impact of ecotourism on the quality of conservation and local development. The methodology adopted was based on the analysis of data collected from management reports from 1987 to 2015, using performance indicators, SPSS 16.0 for statistical analysis and semi-structured interviews for the validation of the results of data analysis. The results of data analysis showed that the touristic movement is seasonal and evolves following a checkered pattern, with an annual average of 1,683 tourists. They revealed that tourism is statistically foreign reference made to the nationality of tourists and local if we consider the place they come from. They indicated that non-resident foreign tourists come to Burundi for extra-tourism activities. The variability of the touristic movement is linked more to political and security crises and organizational shortcomings than to touristic tariffs which remain derisory since they hardly reach 2,95 US $ for official entrance fees and 2,51 US $ for effective entry fees. The annual touristic revenues are 4,636 US $ average. They represent 71% of the overall operating income and a tourism royalty collection rate of 41% that leads to a financial shortfall of 1,919 US $/year. The poor financial performance comes from the lack of financial planning and attractive business plans, insignificant touristic tariffs, weak touristic movement, increase in non-paying staff, illegal tourism by private operators and derisory recovery rates of tourism fees. The low level of touristic income and the return of the almost total amount to the national conservation body for daily operations severely limit self-financing capacities and socio-economic impact of ecotourism on local development. The chronic touristic underperformance is linked to the lack of appropriate touristic investments, infrastructure and marketing, qualified and skillful staff and coherent planning, pricing and recovery policies that lead to amateurish management and sight-seeing navigation. Therefore, there is a great need for better policies, strategies and practices to insure significant improvement of tourism performances},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Evolution, Factors and Ecological and Socio-Economic Impacts of Ecotourism in Rusizi National Park (Burundi)
AU  - Ntiranyibagira Elysée
AU  - Niyondiko Dominique
AU  - Habonayo Richard
AU  - Havyarimana Célestin
Y1  - 2021/03/30
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbes.20210701.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajbes.20210701.14
T2  - American Journal of Biological and Environmental Statistics
JF  - American Journal of Biological and Environmental Statistics
JO  - American Journal of Biological and Environmental Statistics
SP  - 29
EP  - 38
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2471-979X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbes.20210701.14
AB  - In Africa, conservation policies have been often legitimated by socio-economic arguments that include ecotourism projects in most of protected areas. In Burundi, ecotourism activities started in the 1980s. However, they have never been evaluated to appreciate their contribution to finance conservation and local development. The study carried out in the Rusizi National Park responds to this concern. It aimed to: (i) analyze the evolution of the organization, the pricing strategy and the touristic movement, (ii) analyze the evolution and use of touristic revenues and (iii) analyze the impact of ecotourism on the quality of conservation and local development. The methodology adopted was based on the analysis of data collected from management reports from 1987 to 2015, using performance indicators, SPSS 16.0 for statistical analysis and semi-structured interviews for the validation of the results of data analysis. The results of data analysis showed that the touristic movement is seasonal and evolves following a checkered pattern, with an annual average of 1,683 tourists. They revealed that tourism is statistically foreign reference made to the nationality of tourists and local if we consider the place they come from. They indicated that non-resident foreign tourists come to Burundi for extra-tourism activities. The variability of the touristic movement is linked more to political and security crises and organizational shortcomings than to touristic tariffs which remain derisory since they hardly reach 2,95 US $ for official entrance fees and 2,51 US $ for effective entry fees. The annual touristic revenues are 4,636 US $ average. They represent 71% of the overall operating income and a tourism royalty collection rate of 41% that leads to a financial shortfall of 1,919 US $/year. The poor financial performance comes from the lack of financial planning and attractive business plans, insignificant touristic tariffs, weak touristic movement, increase in non-paying staff, illegal tourism by private operators and derisory recovery rates of tourism fees. The low level of touristic income and the return of the almost total amount to the national conservation body for daily operations severely limit self-financing capacities and socio-economic impact of ecotourism on local development. The chronic touristic underperformance is linked to the lack of appropriate touristic investments, infrastructure and marketing, qualified and skillful staff and coherent planning, pricing and recovery policies that lead to amateurish management and sight-seeing navigation. Therefore, there is a great need for better policies, strategies and practices to insure significant improvement of tourism performances
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  - 

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