Abstract:
Abstract
This paper examines the niche tourism potential at Kit Mikayi Tourist Site in Kisumu County. The study
analysed core niche tourism practices using the activity-based-segmentation; host communities’ attitudes towards
sustainable niche tourism development; potential tourism projects and the socio-economic factors likely to affect
tourism development at Kit Mikayi Tourist Site, and proposes ways through which existing and potential
challenges can be addressed. The research data was mainly analysed using the content analysis and thematic
analysis methods. The study revealed that the site is frequented by individual and organized groups, dominated
by domestic visitors. Identified tourists’ activities include: seeing and climbing the Kit Mikayi Rocks, listening
to traditional songs and participating in dodo dance, visiting homesteads, taking souvenir photos, and worshiping.
Revealed Kit Mikayi site’s potential niches include edutainment, photography, geology, and genealogy and
music tourism. Though not unanimous, the local communities support tourism development because of the
perceived socio-economic opportunities. Challenges linked to marketing, management, ethnic mistrust and
competence inadequacies among the internal actors need to be addressed through partnership approach.
