:::: Merit Research Journals :::::::

This study aims to identify the success factors for sustainable tourism planning and management in Ondo State. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select respondents. Isharun cave, Ebomi Lake and Igbo Olodumare were purposively selected to represent the Central, Southern and Northern part of Ondo State. Well-structured questionnaires (150) were administered to the respondents. For the public and private stakeholders, a total of sixteen (16) respondents were purposively selected for the in-depth interviews. A descriptive analysis was used to analyze the questionnaire using SPSS Data editor while data collected on the interviews were analyzed qualitatively through thematic analysis. The empirical results indicate that this heritage site has built community pride (4.30) has the highest mean. The result on the overall assessment of respondents on the success of the sites reveals that the majority (91.3%) held the view that sites were successful while Public Government has the highest level of involvement in the management of the sites (44.4%). However, there is need to achieve maximum success if the derivable benefits from these heritage resources are to be sustained.

Keyword: Conservation, Ecotourism, Planning and Management, Stakeholders participation and Sustainable tourism