The Influence of Leboku New Yam Festival on Catchment Communities in Yakurr Local Government Area, Nigeria

Abstract

Festivals have  become major contributor to destination development in most countries with great tourism potentials. This scenario is witness in Cross River State which harbor  one of the biggest  festival  event in West- Africa. This research wish to evaluate the impact of Leboku new yam on catchment communities in Yakurr Local Government Area.  Five catchment communities  were used in this study of which one hundred and fifty copies  of questionnaire were randomly  administered  to operators  of businesses and community elders in each community. Findings shows that the festival event  has attracted  more visitors  from the catchment communities compared  to domestic and international visitors. It was also  noticed that there was seasonality  in the annual visitors arrivals in the communities  during the festival events. Besides, it was observed that the festival events has contributed  socio-economically  to the wellbeing of the people in the various communities. However, in spite of the above mentioned positive impact of the festival on the catchment communities, it activities are not devoid of socio-economic problems in the area. Therefore, measures must be put in place to guarantee the safety of visitors during the festival event.