Exploring the Potential of Ecotourism for Sustainable Economic Growth in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities

The potential of ecotourism for sustainability economic growth in Nigeria cannot overemphasized due to the opportunities and challenges it brings. Ecotourism plays a crucial role in Nigeria’s economy and sustainability by driving revenue generation, job creation, and environmental conservation. It fosters responsible travel practices, reducing environmental degradation while enhancing conservation efforts. Ecotourism drives sustainable economic growth by creating jobs. Theoretically, economic and environmental theories associated with ecotourism includes Sustainable Development Theory, Ecological Modernization Theory, Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Theory, Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Theory, and Common-Pool Resource (CPR) Theory. Ecotourism at global level that have been examined are that of Costa Rica and Kenya. Major ecotourism sites in nigeria include Yankari Game Reserve (Bauchi State), Cross River National Park (Cross River State), Obudu Mountain Resort (Cross River State), Gashaka-Gumti National Park (Taraba and Adamawa States), Erin-Ijesha Waterfalls (Osun State). Policies governing ecotourism in Nigeria are National Ecotourism Policy, The Forestry and Wildlife Conservation Policies, and the Nigeria Tourism Development Master Plan. Its contribution includes employment generation, contribution to GDP, and infrastructure development. Challenges includes inadequate infrastructure, weak policy implementation, poor governance, security challenges, environmental degradation and climatic change. The qualitative methodology approach has been used in form of a systematic literature review.