American Journal of Environmental Protection 2015; 4(3): 120-126 Published online April 24, 2015 (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajep) doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20150403.12 ISSN: 2328-5680 (Print); ISSN: 2328-5699 (Online) Involvement in Tourism Activities and Perceived Benefits in Communities around Udzungwa Mountain National Park in Tanzania John Safari * , Vicent Gowele, James Lwelamira Institute of Rural Development Planning (IRDP), Dodoma, Tanzania Email address: jsafari@irdp.ac.tz (J. Safari) To cite this article: John Safari, Vicent Gowele, James Lwelamira. Involvement in Tourism Activities and Perceived Benefits in Communities around Udzungwa Mountain National Park in Tanzania. American Journal of Environmental Protection. Vol. 4, No. 3, 2015, pp. 120-126. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20150403.12 Abstract: Tourism constitutes one of the fastest growing sectors in Tanzania. The industry is placed as one of the major means through which development of local communities can be achieved. There is, however, paucity of information on how local communities living close to the national parks are involved in tourism. A cross-sectional study was carried out in February 2013 in six villages adjacent to Udzungwa Mountain National Park (UMNP). The objectives of the study were (i) to examine the extent to which people living close to UMNP participate in tourism, (ii) to identify the determinants of individual involvement in tourism activities, and (iii) to assess the benefits accrued from tourism by local communities. Data were collected from 150 households using a semi-structured questionnaire. A 3-point Likert scale was used to obtain information on residents’ involvement and perceived benefits in tourism activities. Data were then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program version 20. Results show that almost all respondents (97%) were involved in at least one activity related to tourism. The activities include hotel and local restaurant services, agro-tourism, environmental protection, transport services, adventure tourism, local handcrafting, revenue sharing and walking safari. In most of these activities, residents’ involvement was rather moderate. Overall, findings show that tourism provides array of benefits that contribute to the wellbeing of people. However, lack of transparency on revenues from UMNP was identified as ingrained challenge that affected cooperation and trust between residents and leaders. These results underline the need for the Local Government Authority to contextualize governance challenges taking into account the social-political environment. These results underline the need for changes in social-political environment with emphasis on increased accountability and transparency. Addressing these challenges will build greater trust between community members, village leaders and UMNP authority in pursuit of economic development, conservation requirements and sustainability in tourism industry. Keywords: Benefits, Community Development, Conservation, Tourism 1. Introduction Many developing countries now regard tourism as an important and integral part of their economic development strategies. For sub-Saharan African countries, the industry presents an opportunity to diversify export earnings and contribute to economic growth from sources other than primary commodities [24]. The industry is placed as one of the major means through which development of local communities can be achieved [3, 4, 25, 30, 32, 35]. Tanzania is endowed with various natural resources that form a main stay of tourist attractions. During the past decade, tourism increased its contribution to GDP, from US $615 million in 2005 to US$1.75 billion in 2010, making it the largest source of foreign exchange and constituting about 8% of the Tanzanian GDP [31]. Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania’s southern highlands are internationally recognised as an area of rich biodiversity and a hotspot for a range of unique endemic species. Tourism activities in these areas are mainly nature-based and recreation which are categorized as cultural ecosystem services [12, 17]. These present high potential for conservation of protected areas if local communities gain a sense of ownership of the natural resources. Effectiveness of nature-based tourism in providing incentives for sustainable ecosystem management often depends inter alia on sufficient