Cultural Tourism and Community Develpoment: The Case of Egúngún Festival Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Olaleye I. Tinuoye. & Abayomi S. Solanke , Volume 1 Issue 2, December 2020 Pages 38-45, Published: 2020-12-24

Abstract

This paper examines how Nigeria’s cultural resources can be harnessed for community development using the Egungun festival in Ogbomoso Oyo State, Nigeria as a case study. It also exposes the rich culture and uniqueness of Egungun festival for the purpose of rural tourism and community development. Descriptive survey design was adopted, and the study employed the use of both primary and secondary data. A population of 150 respondents were investigated during the celebration of the festival. Findings indicates that the large audience generation and the presence of other tourism related industry like local markets, African dance and music, local food joint, recreational centers, hospitals, and functional public transport systems among many others during the celebration makes the Egúngún festival a feasible instrument for community development. The study attempted to situate the vital role that cultural values and tourism in promoting community development. This paper recommends that concerted efforts should be made by state and local administration to deepen tourism aspect of the event, globalize the content and reduce unnecessary hooliganism associated with it. The paper can also serve as a basis for further research in the area of cultural tourism and tourism promotion