This paper assessed the response of stakeholders in support of sustainable tourism development in Nigeria from data collected at selected heritage sites in Nigeria. Data on the performance of adopted stakeholders were obtained from a prior assessment of potential heritage sites in Nigeria conducted in selected heritage sites spread across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria through a population of stakeholders in the heritage tourism sub-sector, which comprises government officials (GO), community leaders and residents (CL/R), tourist operators/visitors (TO/V), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and cultural heritage tourism researchers (CHTR). The response indices of each of the categories of the stakeholders were harvested and examined. The examined response of the stakeholders was analyzed to assess their response indices and support index as measures of their roles in sustainable tourism development. It was discovered that all the stakeholders support sustainable tourism development with government officials having the lead (41.7%), NGOs followed with 39%, closely followed by CHTR (35.4%), then CL/R (29.1%), and TO/V (28.4%). It is generally evident that all stakeholders desire sustainable tourism development. The research elucidated the desire of stakeholders. The findings were recommended as an illuminating support document for tourism development policy and decision-makers to ensure moribund heritage centers are revived and existing ones supported to attain the status of UNESCO world recognition.
Ayeni et al. (Sat,) studied this question.