The Socio-Economic and Environmental Impact of Tourism Industry on People of Arba Minch and its Surroundings

Contemporary, the tourism industry in Ethiopia has been progressing from time to time. The sector has become the main sources of foreign earnings for many developing countries. The area, Arbaminch, is one of the tourist destination sites in Ethiopia has been identified to have substantial prospective for tourism development. However, due to the nonappearance of adequate research works in the study area together with the lack of crucial infrastructural facilities affected the development of tourism in the area. So, the foremost purposes of this paper is evaluating and identifying the major challenges for the effectual use of the enormous of tourism resources of the area and stress the prospect for tourism development and indicate possible solution to the problems. Both primary and secondary sources including archives, oral informants and relevant references materials are utilized to bring out the history of tourism in Arbaminch and its surroundings. Keywords: attraction, resources, Tourism development, heritage DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/40-0