Socio-Cultural Conservation Strategies and Sustainability of Community Based Tourism Projects in Kenya: A Case of Maasai Mara Conservancies

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how social cultural conservation strategies influence the sustainability of community based tourism projects in Kenya. The objective of the study was to assess the extent to which social-cultural conservation strategies influence sustainability of community based tourism projects in Kenya. The study used descriptive survey research design and adopt a mixed methods approach anchored on pragmatism as its philosophical underpinning. The study was conducted in two conservancies in Maasai Mara; Naboisho conservancy and Olare Motorongi conservancy. The study made use of questionnaires, interviews, participant observation as well as document analysis to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis while quantitative data used multiple regression analysis to test the nature and strength of the relationship between variables based on observed data and to predict the value of the dependent variable based on the value of the independent variable. With r = 0.891, r2 = 0.794, F (1, 204) = 787.02, p = 0.001 < 0.05] it was concluded that social cultural conservation strategies had a significant influence on the sustainability of community based tourism projects. The study recommends that since the culture of the Maasai community has been a tourist attraction, the older members of the community should teach and ingrain the cultural values of their community to their children. When this is done properly, there will be less danger of the younger members adopting other cultures at the expense of their rich culture.