THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM IN NIGERIA AND THE ATTENDANT CHALLENGES

Tourism is said to be one of the world’s fastest growing industry. It generates about 10% of the world’s total employment, and has become one of the major sources of foreign exchange earnings for countries whose tourism potentials have been fully developed. The Tourism industry has advantage over other industries because it is consumed at the point of production so that it directly affects the community. It enables communities that are poor in material wealth to use their cultural resources for income generation, it creates a network of different operations such as, Restaurant, Hotels, Sports and many others. Consequently, most stakeholders are aware of these operations and are anxious to enhance tourism development. However, tourism development should be sustainable so as to continuously reap the accruing benefits. To achieve this goal effectively, there is the need to examine tourism effects and problems, with a view to proffering strategic solutions to identified challenges. This study is therefore, not only significant but also imperative. Tourism development should be guided by the potential impacts and problems of tourism development. It was recommended therefore that the host communities should be involved in the management of tourism enterprises under the supervision of the professionals. That the National Orientation Agency (NOA) should do more in rebranding the image of the country and also that, there should be enhanced policy formulation and implementation to enhance the sustainable tourism development.