Third International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

It is rare to see the development and practical implementation of appropriate indicators to assess and monitor progress towards sustainable tourism development in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Cognizant of this fact, this study develops and tests a comprehensive set of indicators that help to conduct meaningful assessment of progress towards sustainable tourism development from which scholars, planners, policy makers, and other key stakeholders can draw lessons for wise actions. Initially, 160 potential indicators were drawn from literature and semi-structured interviews with some key persons. Then, three-round Delphi Method was applied in which university lecturers, practitioners, residents, and tourists took part. Participants were requested to evaluate the initial list of indicators based on six internationally accepted indicator selection criteria as a result of which the number of indicators was reduced to sixty-five. For purification purpose, a pilot study was conducted in which questionnaires were distributed among 350 participants and 200 returned. After the assessment of its dimensional distinctiveness, reliability, clarity, and readability, fifty-three indicators were retained and used for further verification and validation. Accordingly, the unidimentionality, multivariate normality, multicollinearity, construct reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and construct validity were assessed using different tests including the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Therefore, it is recommended that broad-based participation of key stakeholders is highly important to develop good indicators that would help to make informed decision on tourism industry.