Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to explore the perception of Bishoftu town residents about the impacts of urban tourism. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to achieve the objective of this study. Random sampling procedure was used for selection of respondents from the residents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. The result of factor analysis showed that three factors named economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts explained 53.24% of variation in the perceptions of residents. However, most of the local residents and stakeholders were unaware of negative impact of urban tourism. MANOVA analysis indicated that, there was no significant difference between the mean of underlying dimensions of the perceived urban tourism impacts, and socio-demographic characteristics. The concerned bodies and officials should take the issues into account while planning and devising various measures.

Key words: Urban tourism, residents’ perception, tourism impacts, Bishoftutown.