Community-based Ecotourism in the Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons Learnt

Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) in Ethiopia possesses significant potential for community-based ecotourism (CBET), driven by its rich cultural heritage, endangered wildlife, and scenic attractions like Fincanbera tourism sites and Bodity Mountain. However, the park faces substantial challenges, including low local participation, inadequate infrastructure, limited stakeholder engagement, and unsustainable resource use. Despite these obstacles, the study highlights that CBET could be a viable model for sustainable development, particularly in developing countries where demand for nature-based tourism is growing. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews, and observations to gather data from participants selected via snowball sampling. These findings offer valuable lessons for European countries seeking to adapt grassroots, bottom-up CBET models to their own contexts.

Teshome, S., Mester, T., & Egedy, T. (2025). Community-based Ecotourism in the Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons Learnt. DETUROPE - the Central European Journal of Tourism and Regional Development, 17(1), 4–25. https://doi.org/10.32725/det.2025.001