This work is intended as a contribution toward more detailed analysis of community-based tourism in the tropical mountains of Africa, as previously provided for East Africa by Manyara et al (2006) and Manyara and Jones (2007). The following sections explore the significance of alpine tourism in the Mt Kenya region and present the example of the Mt Kenya Guides and Porters
Safari Club (GPSC), a community-based organization in Naro Moru, at the semiarid, but fertile, western foot of Mt Kenya. Naro Moru Location is characterized by scattered settlements and, according to the 2009 population census, has a total population of 21,533; Kamburaini Sublocation, which is an important starting point for climbing the volcano, has 6414 inhabitants in 1813 households (KNBS 2010). Based on the above main hypothesis, the study was designed to answer the following questions for Naro Moru and, more specifically, for Kamburaini: N How does alpine tourism in general affect the regional economy at the foot of Mt Kenya?
Does tourism in the Mt Kenya region act as a driver of regional development and resolve sociospatial disparities?
Does income from community-based tourism stabilize households’ livelihoods? How substantial is this income for the members of the cooperative in Naro Moru?
Which aspects of community-based tourism—eg ‘‘participation’’ or ‘‘empowerment’’—are relevant to development and people’s livelihoods? Can they promote both poverty mitigation and future prospects for the next generation?
Methods
Apart from evaluating the latest research and analyzing official statistics, this study involved the collection of primary data by a range of methods, including open,qualitative interviews and focus group discussions with guides and porters and the GPSC Steering Board; interviews with experts (District Officer, Chancellor and Chief of Location, Minister of Agriculture of Nyeri
District, Chief of Sublocation, and hotel managers of Naro Moru lodges); analysis and evaluation of the GPSC’s books and accounts; inspection of the visitors’ books at four gates of the Mt Kenya National Park; and various mapping activities. The local population’s points of view
were recorded in a variety of interviews conducted by 9 students of a Master’s program in Geography. The students were invited to stay with families in Naro Moru for several
days and share in their daily routines, getting to know the families’ livelihoods, their family structures and ties, as well as their working and living conditions. This intensive
interviewing activity covered 27 households; interviews and focus group discussions with guides and porters provided deeper insights into another 48 households.
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