COMMUNITY IDENTITIES AND SOCIOECONOMIC DYNAMICS OF CULTURAL TOURISM IN IJEBU-ODE, NIGERIA

Tourism is recognised as one of the world's most significant socioeconomic tools, with its impact expanding globally. Harnessing community identities as an element of cultural tourism is crucial for the socioeconomic contributions of cultural tourism in southwest Nigeria, which is essential to understanding its importance. This paper examined the influence of community identities on socioeconomic dynamics of cultural tourism in Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria. However, extant works have appraised cultural tourism from several perspectives. Unexpectedly, the literature search revealed that studies uncovering the importance of community identities in the socioeconomic contributions of cultural tourism are limited. To bridge this gap, this study employed in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) to gather information about the community identities of residents in Ijebu-Ode town, which are essential for achieving the contributions of cultural tourism. Thus, the researchers adopted a narrative method to analyse the data gathered from the key informant interviews and focus group discussions that were transcribed for better understanding. The study's findings indicated that the tools of cultural tourism and community identities should be weaponised to promote the socioeconomic activities of residents and improve their living standards.