Recreation centre potentials for tourism development in Calabar, Cross River State Nigeria

Recreation centre plays an important role in promoting tourism activities across the world. The study examined the availability, location characteristics and patronage of recreation centres by visitors and residents of the study area. Primary and secondary sources of data were employed for the study. The primary source involved the use of questionnaires, interview sessions aided by participatory research appraisal methods, G.I.S technique and direct field observations. The secondary sources involved the use of journals, textbook, records from the management of the various centres within the area. The study population involved managers of recreation centres, visitors and residents of the study area. Data derived for the study were presented with the aid of tables, charts, simple percentages, graphs and charts. Nearest neighbour index and Analysis of Variance were employed to analyze the data. The study revealed that tourists' centres in the area were not evenly distributed with z-value of 0.69 and further investigation revealed that factors such as accessible road network, security and availability of infrastructures were determinants for location of recreation centres. The study also observed that the recreation centres faced challenges such as high cost of rent, insecurity and lack of infrastructures. It was also observed that the patronage of the various centres significantly varies from one another with F-ratio of (F=8.580; P<0.05) at a confidence level of 0.05. The study also revealed that some of the most visited recreation centres in the area were equipped with numerous recreational equipments such as swimming pool, gymnasium, night clubs and sport facilities. The study further observed that recreation centres faced challenges ranging from lack of infrastructure to lack of accessible road and insecurity. Based on these findings, it was recommended that government and private investors should support the tourism support facilities by reducing the rate of tax, provide loan facilities and infrastructures to encourage the growth of the tourism industry in the study area.