American Journal of Tourism Research Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012, 1-8 ISSN 2168-3786 Print/ ISSN 2168-3794 Online © 2012 World Scholars Integrating Tourism with Rural Development Strategies in Western Kenya George Otieno Obonyo and Erick Victor Onyango Fwaya * Department of Ecotourism, Hotel and Institution Management, Maseno University, Maseno, Kenya Tourism being one of the most intriguing sustainable development themes has become popular economic development tool in many countries today. Tourism related activities are widely regarded as key-tools for rural development, especially in developing countries. Villages are today some of the places, attracting the attention of tourism planners more than ever before. Those villages with specific natural or social-cultural appeal have strong potential for attracting tourists from close or far off areas and this can have significant role in rural development if well planned and integrated. This research sought to find out ways through which tourism can be integrated with rural development strategies in Western Kenya and what the resultant benefits of the integration could be in the long run to the local communities studied. Qualitative method was used to collect and analyze data for the study. In particular, three focus group discussions consisting of 27 key stakeholders (9 individuals in hospitality and tourism enterprises in the region, 9 individuals from community based organizations (CBOs), and 9 participants from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) concerned with rural development in Western Kenya) were conducted. The study identified several integration approaches that can be adopted in rural development through tourism. Keywords: integrating, tourism, rural development, strategies, Western Kenya Introduction Tourism is constantly thought to have both positive and negative impacts on a destination, whether it is the local people, the environment, the government or the available resources. Most researchers have examined social, economic, environmental and cultural impacts of tourism in a destination (Viljoen & Tlabela, 2007; Hall & Brown, 2000; Newman & Smith, 2000). Rural communities in developing countries are faced with hostile economic, social and environmental conditions in attempts to eke a living. Good planning and development of tourism product in the rural areas could be an avenue through which the livelihoods of the rural community can be improved. Hall and Brown (2000) for instance believes that through tourism, majority of the rural areas can regulate themselves both economically and socially in the dynamic global setting. This contention has triggered increasing focus on tourism by both tourism product developers, planners and the rural communities as an alternative means of achieving sustainable economic growth and development. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OECD] (1994), many rural areas in developing countries face the challenge of population and service decline. Poverty eradication still remains to be a key and persistent challenge for rural development in the developing countries. * Corresponding author. Email: erickfwaya@yahoo.com Kenya just like any other developing country is confronted with the challenge of improving the lives of her rural folks. The situation has exacerbated especially in the western region of the country where the economic situation has not stabilize. Despite the existence of certain projects and programs geared towards rural development, little success has been noted. Poverty, food insecurity, unemployment and poor infrastructure still remain to be some of the challenges facing the people residing in the rural areas. Basic services such as health care, drinking water and roads remain deficient in these areas making it difficult to achieve the millennium development goals. Tourism on the other hand has had profound success in relation to other economic sectors in the country. Compared to the performance of the tourism industry in the country, a gap still exist between growth of tourism and rural development initiatives in Kenya. While there exist this disparity, the tourism industry in Kenya is performing tremendously well contributing significantly towards the country’s economic development. However, the impact of tourism growth is minimally felt in rural Kenya especially the western region. Extant literature regards tourism as an alternative channel for improving the living standards of local community residing in rural areas (Viljoen & Tlabela, 2007; Cabrini, 2002; Hall & Brown, 2000; OECD, 1994). This is attributed to the steady increase of touristic activities in the rural areas of most touristic countries (Haghsetan, Mahmoudi & Maleki, 2011). However, consideration