Research on residents’ perceptions of the socio-cultural issues in tourism development in Southeastern Nigeria are limited. Drawing from collaboration and responsible tourism frameworks, this thesis explores residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts; the resources that could be harnessed; and how to support the responsible development of tourism in the region. Southeastern Nigeria is home to the Igbo tribe, comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. The thesis focuses on selected clans in Anambra and Enugu States. The discussions are presented from an emic perspective because I am a member of the Igbo society, have acquired western knowledge and am involved in tourism education.

This research adopts a qualitative design, and takes an ethnographic approach to understand how participants construct knowledge about socio-cultural issues associated with regional tourism development. Using a purposive sampling technique targeted at people in key positions 216 tourism stakeholders including traditional rulers, men, women and youth representatives, chief priests, security agents and tourism officials were identified to take part in interviews and focus group discussions. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.