Abstract:
The major purpose of this study was to examine whether and under what conditions domestic tourism can
help in promoting cultural pluralism at Amhara World Heritage Sites, Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, a
quantitative and qualitative case study method, and purposive and stratified sampling techniques were
employed for questionnaires, a focus group discussion and interview data gathering instruments.
Quantitative data was hand-coded into SPSS (version 19) and analyzed using both descriptive and
inferential statistics. Therefore, tourism experts and domestic tourists participated and the collected data
was analyzed by descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one way ANOVA and post hoc tests. The quality
of quantitative data from the questionnaire survey was checked by using reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) and
validity (factor analysis) tests. The qualitative data was collected from experts and domestic tourists and
analyzed through interpretative and descriptive accounts of the data. To assure the reliability of qualitative
data, all interviews and group discussions were recorded and registered word for word throughout the
course of interviews and focus group discussions. The interpretation of qualitative data was a thematic
descriptive approach that utilized a theme summary data and unattributed quotes to illustrate dominant
issues in the respondents’ own words. The major findings of the study indicate that an increment of
academic qualification and experience of travelling to different parts of the country can help to
understand the role of domestic tourism for cultural pluralism initiatives. However, the Amhara
regional state government should not view domestic tourism as some form of vector of economic
domination, but it is rather very much seen to be viewed as an instrument of cultural pluralism, a sustainable
economic, environmental and social tool for development and some useful recommendations are offered
in this regard.
Keywords: Domestic tourism, cultural pluralism, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia
