RISS Journal Randwick International of Social Sciences (RISS) Journal Vol. 3, No. 4, October 2022 | Page: 750-762 ISSN Online: 2722-5674 - ISSN Print: 2722-5666 http://www.randwickresearch.com/index.php/rissj -750- Assessment of Community-Based Tourism Potential and Inventory in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, Akwa Ibom State | Augustine Michael Imikan 1 | Nsisong Christopher Ekong 2,* | | Malachy Ugochuckwu Okoroji 3 | INTRODUCTION Tourism in recent time has gained more recognition with some motivational changes due to the upgrade in the industry. Ekong and Imikan (2017) noted that people like to spend good times with families and friends while at the same time exploring various tourist places across the globe which are natural or man-made. Similarly, ICLEL (1991) cited in Konwar and Chakraborty (2014) asserted that the primary products of tourism are not produced by the industry but of heritage, wealth and expected legacy of the community that serves as the tourists’ destination. These factors together with technical facilities and basic tourism infrastructure constitute the foundation of a tourist attraction for a given destination and help to deem the destination as either suitable or unsuitable for visiting and receiving visitors (Dincu, 2015). Community-based tourism (CBT) is a bottom-up approach to sustainable development used in developing countries to enhance the conservation of natural resources, preserve traditional culture, and generate income at the local level. Nowadays, tourists lay more emphasis on local communities, cultural heritage and the quality of tourism destinations ABSTRACT The study aimed to carryout inventory and maps the distribution of community-based tourism attractions in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State. The study was descriptive in nature and adopted purposive sampling method to select ten (10) communities for the study. The communities were drawn at least one from each of the Local Government Areas. Data for the study were obtained through questionnaire forms, interviews, focus group discussions and personal observations. The questionnaire forms were administered to a total of four hundred (400) respondents who were randomly selected among the ten (10) selected communities. The result of the study shows that community-based tourism potential are decaying in the local community due to ignorance of the local communities on tourism benefits and lack of involvement and participation in community- based tourism activities. However, new tourism potential /attractions were discovered during the inventory. We concluded that community-based tourism if well managed and restructured is a functional tool to driving sustainable tourism development. Therefore, it is recommended that the local communities should effectively participate and be involved in community-based related activities and they should be integrated in decision-making and management in the tourism industry to aid the sustainability of tourism development in the district. KEYWORDS Community-Based; Tourism Potential; Attractions; Inventory; Akwa Ibom 1,2,3 Department of Geography and Natural Resources Management University of Uyo, Nigeria *songcrissspecial@gmail.com DOI: https://doi.org/10.47175/rissj.v3i4.556