Enhancing Community Participation in Ecotourism through a Local Community Participation Improvement Model

This study aimed to explore the model that can be used to improve local community participation in ecotourism development processes. The study was conducted at the communities adjoining the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A mixed methods design was adopted by the study during collection and analysis of data. A total of 384 respondents were sampled through convenience sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to collect data through face-to-face surveys. The study found that local communities had not been actively participating in ecotourism development processes, especially those undertaken within the rural setting as a result of different socio-economic factors including lacking necessary skills. This study asserts that this gap could be mitigated through implementation of local community participation improvement model (LCPIM) based on its potential for influencing enactment and/or amendment of policies on ecotourism development