An Economic Analysis of Tourism Contribution for Urban Poverty Reduction in Major Tourist Towns of North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Tourism has a significant contribution to the livelihood diversification of the communities and supporting economic development efforts. This study aimed at an economic analysis of tourism's contribution to urban poverty reduction in Major Tourist Towns of North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. A multistage simple random sampling and purpose sampling were used to select sample respondents from the population in the study area. Hence, a total of 286 valid observations from 385 sample respondents were used for the analysis of the collected data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The finding of this study revealed that tourism has a significant and positive contribution to poverty reduction in urban areas, but the level of contribution is minimal. Besides, it exhibited that funding aids and government concern for tourism-targeted programs and access to credit infrastructure, tourism education, and policy were the significant factors that affect tourism's role in urban poverty reduction. Thus, to enhance its contributions and overcome industry bottlenecks, the government shall put tourism as a valuable development pillar, develop pro-poor strategies linking tourism with the urban poor, develop urban tourism development programs, and assign tourism-trained professional leaders to the sector.

Determinants of environmental conservation in Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia.

This study has investigated the factors that determine the conservation of one of the major ecosystem in Ethiopia, Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve, using primarily quantitative followed by qualitative approach to provide adequate results of the problem under study. The study has employed the descriptive design and a total of 305 samples from rural households (n = 159) and tourism-related enterprises (n = 146) were selected based on a stratified random sampling technique. Samples were drawn based on their direct attachment either in their livelihood and possess a responsibility to the study area. Data were collected through questionnaires, observation, focus group discussion, unstructured interview and secondary data was consulted. Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract dimensions for environmental awareness. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze data using SPSS version 23. Ten Socio-demographic variables of samples were used as an independent variable and environmental conservation dimensions as dependent variables. The result revealed that out of the 10 variables employed in the analysis, six variables were found significant. Hence, marital status, household size, income source, household income, membership to club and resident location were found to be significant. Qualitative analysis revealed wrong reports for political consumption driven little government attention and lack of integrated natural resource management policy and plan were major factors hindering conservation. A vivid and holistic destination management policy making with enough room to stakeholders' involvement shall be a prior task for the government for better conservation of the ecosystem and sustainable development.