Revista de teledetección y SIG

Abstracto

GIS and Remote Sensing Based Site Suitablity Analyisis for Tourism Development in East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia

Ziyen Achamyeleh, Teferee Makonnen

Ethiopia has an enormous potential for tourism development owing to its long history and diversified natural and cultural attractions. This study is aimed at assessing the tourism potentials, challenges and mechanisms of tourism development using Geographic Information System and remote sensing in East Gojjam Zone. Six criteria and thirteen factors were considered for land suitability evaluation for tourism. These are landscape (visibility, land use land cover), wildlife (wildlife areas), topography (elevation, slope), accessibility (proximity to cultural sites, natural attractions, roads, river and town), vegetation and climate (rainfall, temperature). Further, purposive sampling was employed to identify 70 respondents for interview. The result revealed that 5% of areas were highly suitable and 9% were moderately suitable for tourism. Less and not suitable areas, on the other hand, accounts for 14% and 72%, respectively. Accessibility is a prerequisite for tourism development; and major tourist attractions such as heritage site, natural attractions and water bodies or lakes showed high suitability. The study further disclosed that lack of infrastructure, natural resources degradation, lack of tourism professionals, and poor coordination on stakeholders are some of the challenges of tourism development. The potential tourism resources of the area needed to be developed and well promoted in a desired way.