PROMOTION MEDIA AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL FESTIVALS IN OYO TOWN, NIGERIA

Abstract

Cultural festivals attract socio-economic development to host communities through promotion of tourism. Previous studies focused on product-oriented approach to promoting cultural festivals. However, not much attention has been paid to the role of promotion media mix to expand opportunities for tourism through cultural festivals. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the effects of promotion media for Sango and Oranyan festivals in Oyo town, Nigeria, with a view to determining their influence on tourism development. Edward Chace Tolman’s Push and Pull Theory served as the framework, while a combination of survey and ethnographic designs were adopted. Purposive sampling was used to select Atiba Local Government Area owing to the concentration of cultural activities relating to the two festivals in the area. Convenience sampling method was used to select 45 household from each of the ten political wards in Atiba local government. A self-structured questionnaire was administered on heads of 450 households selected. Six key informant interviews were conducted with three policy makers from Oyo State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Alaafin’s Cultural Ambassador and two traditional chiefs in Oyo kingdom based on their key roles in the festivals. The social networks of both festivals were monitored for a year, between 14 August, 2019 and 20 August, 2020 to determine their effectiveness. Accidental sampling was used to select 15 tourists for in-depth interviews on Sango festival and 10 tourists on Oranyan festival. Quantitative data were subjected to descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment correlation, while thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative data. Among the media that the residents got information from, print media ranked the highest (x̄ =3.92±0.27), followed by new media (x̄ =3.76±0.68), while radio ranked the least (x̄ =3.14±0.80). There was a weak but positive relationship between festival promotion and tourism development (r=0.242, p<0.05). Employment opportunities (x̄ =3.36±0.68), facelift in infrastructure (x̄ =3.28±0.87), and preservation of cultural practices (x̄ =3.48±0.84) were the major socio-economic benefits of promoting these festivals. Traditional media, such as newspapers and radio, were used to create awareness about the festivals, but poor financial support from government limited the utilisation of these media. Facebook and Instagram aided in promoting these festivals owing to affordability and accessibility to wider audience. The benefits associated with the promotion of the festivals were educating children about indigenous cultural practices, recreating festival aesthetics by easing the pressure of religious biases, and support of corporate bodies. Oranyan Festival had more audience (110 followers) on Instagram compared to Sango Festival (33 followers), while Sango Festival had more traffic (12,323 followers) on Facebook than Oranyan Festival (55 followers). Most of the tourists got information on Sango (67.0%) and Oranyan (80.0%) Festivals from the social media. Promotion media for Sango and Oranyan Festivals contribute immensely to the development of tourism in Oyo town; the more the promotion of these festivals, the more the benefits to the host community. Therefore, social networks should be prioritised to promote cultural festivals and enhance opportunities for tourism development in Oyo town.