Assessing tourism’s contribution to household incomes: The case of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park peripheral residents

Background: Tourism is widely promoted as a means of financing biodiversity conservation while improving rural livelihoods, yet its benefits are often unevenly distributed among communities adjacent to protected areas. Aim: This study examines tourism’s contribution to household incomes around BINP and the structural factors shaping access to tourism-related economic opportunities. Setting: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), Uganda. Methods: The study reports the quantitative component of a broader mixed-methods study, drawing on a six-round longitudinal survey of 235 households conducted between June 2019 and July 2020. Results: Households participating directly in tourism earned significantly higher incomes than those without tourism income (Mann–Whitney U = 4653.5, Z = −3.064, p = 0.002). However, participation varied by proximity to the park, gender, age and ethnicity, with Indigenous Batwa households largely excluded from direct employment and enterprise opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of tourism-dependent livelihoods, while higher tourism incomes showed limited evidence of translating into productive asset accumulation or sustained livelihood improvement. Conclusion: Conservation tourism around BINP operates through a regime of differentiated inclusion, whereby access to opportunities and benefits is conditioned by pre-existing spatial, social and historical inequalities rather than market participation alone. Contribution: The study provides rare longitudinal household-level evidence from a protected-area context in sub-Saharan Africa, advancing debates on conservation tourism, rural livelihoods and environmental justice. More equitable outcomes require governance approaches that expand access to opportunities, strengthen livelihood resilience and address structural inequalities.