Assessment of Tourism Potentials and Their Contributions to The Socio-Economic Development of Idanre People, Ondo State, Nigeria

Adeniyi Joshua Olu, Olugbamila Omotayo Ben, Olajide Tosin Paul

Nigeria is a country that is blessed with a lot of tourism potentials and it is painful that attention is being diverted from tourism sector that could provide job opportunities for many Nigerians rather than concentrating on only the oil sector. Many countries rely on tourism for their economic survival (Dubai, Kenya, India, China, among others.) and most of these countries are not endowed better than Nigeria in terms of tourism resources. Both primary and secondary data were utilized in this research. Secondary data were sourced from literatures; while primary data was sourced using personal observation, oral interview which was directed at vendors close to the resort and structured questionnaires which were administered to tourists using purposive sampling. 100 questionnaires were administered to the tourists. Analysis revealed that some of the infrastructural facilities at Idanre hills resort are not in good condition due to lack of maintenance and some of the monuments at the ancient town of Idanre are not maintained. This paper assessed Idanre hills resort and discovered if well developed, it will promote other tourism potentials in Idanre thereby boosting the socio-economic activities of the people in the study area and as well improve the economy of Ondo State at large. Recommendations on how Idanre hills resort could become ‘a home away from home’ were put forward.