Undeveloped Attractions and Tourism Potential a Case Study of Taita-Taveta County Kenya

ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to identify the tourism potentials within Taita-Taveta County Kenya. The specific objectives were; to find out tourism attractions within TaitaTaveta County; to find ways of developing the to11rism attractions within Taita-Taveta County; to investigate the problems affecting the development of tourism resources within Taita-Taveta County. A Combination of data collection methods was used and these were observation, interview, and secondary sources. As for data collection instruments, selfadministered interview schedule and questionnaires were used. The data was then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively based on research questions and objectives. The data was presented in form of jieq11ency, charts, tables and graphs. Options to be undertaken to develop to11ris111 attractions within Taita-Taveta Co11nty were several but the most outstanding one was provision of social facilities like health facilities, water, electricity, transport network and hotels, introd11cing tourism activities (e.g. spot fishing, safaris, game viewing, bird watching, boat riding). The st11dy established several impacts that co11ld be realized after developing tourist attractions and were categorized into positive and negative impacts. However, the positive impacts outnumbered the negative impacts. The most common impacts to be realized were employment opportunities and income generation. The most common problem affecting tourism resources as pointed out by majority of the informants was deforestation. Others include encroachment and poaching. The recommendations are that the attractions need to be developed through collective effort from the private sector, the government, local leaders and the local community. There is need for strategies to guard against negative impacts that could arise because of the development of the tourist attractions, such as increased crime rates, prostitution, and a collapse in the agricultural sector.