Festival Tourism Impact on Host Communities in Southwestern Nigeria: A Step Toward Developing a Tourism Impact Mitigation Plan (TIMP)

This study explores the tourism impact of the Eyo, Ojude-Oba, and Osun festivals in Southwestern Nigeria as a step toward developing a Tourism Impact Mitigation Plan (TIMP). Primary data were gathered through 786 questionnaires distributed to residents around the festival sites. The mean index was used for data analysis, where the weighted responses were ranked based on their importance. The identified impacts were categorized into four levels: high positive, low positive, high negative, and low negative impacts, across the different locations. The results showed similar outcomes across locations, except for Osogbo, which revealed slight deviations with indicators of low positive impact. Despite the positive outcomes reported, several negative impacts were identified, upon which this study proposes a TIMP to address the issues. This plan could be valuable not only for the study locations but also for reducing the negative effects of large festival celebrations on host communities in developing countries.