Residents' Perceptions of and Participation in Rural Tourism Development: Acumens From Karimenga Community in Ghana

Geotourism Vis-À-Vis Rural Tourism

In tourism development literature, the emergence of geotourism employs similar tenets which is akin to rural tourism. Geotourism is a phenomenon that offers a more sustainable tourism which is more holistic (Dowling and Newsome, 2017). It enhances the distinctive geographical character of a place—its environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture, and the well-being of its residents (National Geographic, 2019). Features of geotourism serving as “pull factors” to the geotraveller are: Integrity of a place, community involvement, community benefit, tourist satisfaction, conservation of resources, planning, land use and market diversity. Geotourism is therefore not a niche in the tourism market but an emerging phenomenon that helps local businesses develop approaches to tourism drawing on the area’s nature, history and culture, including food and drink, artisanship, performance and arts (National Geographic, 2019). Indeed, Jaafar, et. al., (2015) and Marfo (2014) noted in the literature that tourism often created new business opportunities in rural destinations thus offering employment to rural folks. It is a kind of travel that makes visitors aware of and to gain some understanding of the geological features that surround them. In geotourism, residents discover their own heritage by learning that things they take for granted may be interesting to outsiders and as local people develop pride and skills in showing their locale, tourists get more out of their visit. Geotourism will not lure a tourist to an exotic destination only to later put him/her in Hilton or Marriot and in addition give him coupons to feed from Taco Bell or McDonald’s but instead lay the platform for the tourist to appreciate everything local (Kardaman, 2019).