Influence of Tourism Attractions on Tourism Sustainability in Selected Parts of Nandi County, Kenya

Abstract

Tourists are satisfied when their needs are met in a destination. When destinations lack attractions, it is hard to be called a tourism entity. Natural beauty and climate among others are a vital aspect that influence vacationers to visit or revisit a given destination. These features entice individuals to the destination and also contribute to the general experience of the tour thereby sustaining tourism.The research intended to assess the influence of tourism attractions on tourism sustainability in selected parts of Nandi County. The results for the study could give a guideline to the improvement of tourism dimensions towards sustainability in Nandi County. The study employed a survey research design. The target population was 598 visitors with a sample size of 239. Questionnaires were used to gather data from tourists visiting the selected parts. Validity was realized through selection of study sample that was of the utmost representative group. Cronbach’s alpha was used as a measure of reliability. Descriptive statistics were employed in SPSS Version 2021. There were 6 tourist destinations visited in selected parts of Nandi County with 172 respondents sampled; 158 (91.9%) Kenyans, 4 (2.3%) German, 4 (2.3%) Indians, 2 (1.2%) from USA while 4 (2.3%) were either from New York, Nigeria and Brazil.In regards to gender, majority were male (65.1%). Most respondents (36.0%) were aged from 21 to 30 years.Majority of the respondents, (97.7%) had formal education.Out of the total respondents, 17.4% had visited Diguna falls, 3.5% Kaptumo Africa Native Court, 14.5% Koitalel Samoei Museum, 26.7% Ngaunat caves, 14.0% Eden spring guest house and 23.8% Chepkiit falls. The respondents were asked to state how valuable was cultural dimensions to their visit in Nandi County; 11.0% indicated that they were not very valuable, 9.3% not valuable, 22.1% undecided, 29.1% valuable while 28.5% very valuable. On natural attractions,4.1% revealed that they were not very valuable 2.3% not valuable, 15.7% were undecided, 27.9% valuable and 50.0% very valuable. On built attractions, 5.8% opined not very valuable, 9.9% not valuable, 27.3% were undecided, 30.8% valuable while 26.2% very valuable. In conclusion, cultural attractions were found to be the most valuable to tourists visit in Nandi County. The findings revealed that tourism attractions have an influence on the tourism sustainability in selected parts of Nandi County. The study recommended more studies to be done to establish the influence of tourisms accessibility on tourism sustainability in selected parts of Nandi County, Kenya