Developing responsible tourism in emerging economies: the case of Nigeria

ABSTRACT Advocacy for the responsible development of tourism continues to attract attention from scholars. The emergence of responsible tourism in the 1990s was a call to action, and for a move from setting agendas (sustainable tourism) to stakeholder accountability. As tourism is still developing in Nigeria, this paper discusses strategies for supporting responsible tourism development in the Southeastern region of the country. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were organized with 166 stakeholders, including staff of tourism parastatals, traditional rulers, the representatives of men, women and youth and local security agencies. Findings identified possible strategies for determining if, when and how responsible tourism development might occur. These strategies include stakeholder empowerment, funding for tourism supporting facilities, boosting security and capacity for implementing tourism policies. The findings suggest that if well implemented, the tourism strategies are central to achieving future resident and tourist friendly development.