URBANIZATION AND TOURISM – PATH TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Nigeria abundant tourism components that could make her the leading tourism provider in Africa. There are attractions of natural beauty. The coastal environment of Nigeria has rich ecosystem with natural resources, vegetation, and large human agglomerations. In this paper, the research on the socio-economic impact of tourism development along the coast line of Lagos was thoroughly conducted and assessed to level of acceptability. Based on the increase in tourism awareness all over the world, it has been a general notice that social and economic tourism play a vital role in the sustainability of the global tourism The objectives of this research work are to promote tourism development along the coastal line of Lagos, to carve-out economic roles for tourism provides settlement, to assess the socio-economic contribution of tourism development on the host community and to recommend a way forward towards the enhancement of coastal tourism in Nigeria. The empirical part involved the use of research method which includes interviews and observations. Findings revealed that the coastal line of Lagos as tourist attraction has positive socio-economic impact on the people of the area. Recommendations are put forward to give likely solutions which are: Provision of infrastructural facilities to enhance development in the area, government-private partnership, community involvement to encourage grassroots participation, expansion of the coast line to decongest the already existing ones, promotion, coastal zone management, political will on the side of the government. If these recommendations follow, the coastal line of Lagos will be attractive tourist destination in coming years.