A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Award of the Master of Science in Economics in Project Planning and Management (MSc Econ- PPM) of Mzumbe University 2013There are arguments on extensive roles of tourism as regards to improvement of the welfare and living condition of surrounding communities vested on the relationships between tourism and the household’s income. In order to provide critical analysis on the matter, the study focuses on assessing the impact of tourism on household’s income to communities living adjacent to protected areas by examining the contribution of tourism income to the total household’s income. In so doing, the study examines the effects of tourism on employment and business opportunities in the community and income of the local people at Mto wa Mbu. The study also assesses the contribution of tourism on social services provisions in the community by investigating the supply and employment opportunities and factors that enhance such opportunities. The main focus is on the access of communities on tourism employment, capacity to sell to tourist hotels and lodges and business innovative patterns. The researcher has used both cross-section and longitudinal research designs using the survey and documentary reviews data technique. The survey technique was carried through the established questionnaires and interview guides which were applied to 95 respondents whore were randomly selected through the stratified sampling technique. The community of Mto wa Mbu depends on tourism on their day to day economic activities such as selling their farm produces and artisanal products as well as on employment in lodges, hotels and camps. The findings show that tourism has a significant contribution on household’s income at Mto wa Mbu through provision of farm supplies and employment opportunities which are provided in the industry. The researcher recommends that, the government and other practitioners should increase their efforts on enhancing the community to increase their productivity capacity especially through education in order to increase community awareness and hence productivity.