Eco-Tourism Development Challenges In South Sudan: A Case Study In Pibor And Boma Payams, Jonglei State

ABSTRACT

Ecotourism is regarded as the fastest growing industry in the world. Africa was identified at the

World Investment Conference in Geneva (WAIPA, 2005) as one of the continents with a

significant potential for developing ecotourism. Ecotourism provides the best alternative for

economic development to South Sudan which does not have any other mineral resources apart

from oil, unlike most African countries. The development of ecotourism can contribute a lot to

this semi autonomous country through reduction of the level of poverty, creation of job

opportunities as well as contributing to the national income. However, the ecotourism in South

Sudan is still in its early stages due to the recently concluded civil war. Most of the parks re

opened in 2005/2006, and still concentrate on ‘a next to none’ volume of tourists. Until now

South Sudan is not recognized among the known tourist destinations in Africa; it is believed to

be a less developed and insecure place for tourists. This study presents challenges to ecotourism

development in South Sudan. The study was conducted in two villages (Pibor and Boma), as

well in the capital city, Juba. A quantitative design using questionnaires was utilized to establish

the opinions of the participants. A sample of 36 participants, including four (4) tourists, fourteen

(14) people from the local population as well as eighteen (18) workers in the tourism sector and

within Community Based organizations as well, was selected to participate in the study. Data

analysis by means of descriptive statistics was used to obtain the frequencies, expressed as percentages.