An investigAn investigation of the contribution of cultural tourism in promoting economic development in Tanzania; the case Study of Arusha and Manyara Regions

Tourism can contribute substantially in promoting economic development through creation of employment, income generation and foreign currencies to nations. Despite these benefits, however, Tanzanian tourism has mainly been based in wildlife tourism hence the need for the diversification to cultural tourism.This study investigated the contribution of Cultural Tourism in generating income, creation of employment and improved the social services. The study employed survey questionnaire to respondents and interview to Cultural Tourism Enterprise coordinators in four Cultural Tourism Enterprises found in Arusha and Manyara regions. Data were analyzed by the use Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The computation of frequencies for income and employment employed was performed. However, Pearson and spearman correlation were run. Also independence sample t-test for social service perception was done.The results of the study show that 23.8% and 27.7% were ranked 1st priority in contributing to income and employment respectively whereas the impact to social services was highly perceived in education sector. The results show moderate positive correlation of .538 between income and employment. Therefore, impact of cultural tourism in terms of income, employment and improvement of social services was vivid. However, there is still a need for the government to promote cultural tourism while the communities play their active role in participating in cultural tourism.