the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

As previously discussed, the process of modernisation was one of differentiation,
organised largely within the boundaries of the nation state. This, however, is no
longer the case. The capacity for capital to move from one area of the world to
another, almost instantaneously, alters the ways in which economic relations are
both conceptualised and consequently organised. It is this compression of space
and time, which leads Scott (1997) to argue that globalisation needs to be
distinguished from both modernisation and colonialism. Globalisation is therefore not
merely the sum of international or transnational connections between places, but
rather implies a different order of relationships structured across space and time
(Meethan, 2001).
Hence, since the late 1970s, there have been substantial changes to what one might
term the 'global system' and the resultant restructuring of space. With reference to
tourism, these global flows of information, capital, people and cultures are realised in
specific socio-spatial forms as the development of new networks of places, and the
emergence of new spaces of consumption (Meethan, 2001). These are significant in
two ways. Firstly, the internationalisation of businesses such as airlines, hotel
chains, and tour operators that have facilitated the growth in long-haul and overseas
tourism (Daniels, 1993). Secondly, the effect of new technologies in facilitating both
the movement of capital and people such as the establishment of airline and hotel­
booking reservation systems (Poon, 1993).
There is little doubt that globalisation is having profound impacts on policies,
economics, cultures and tourism. Due to its magnitude as an industry, tourism
provides a unique vantage point for exploring, arguably the most transformative
process in the world today, globalisation. As a mode of travel, interaction,
visualisation and experience, tourism is not only increasingly reaching formerly
isolated parts of the world, but is also reshaping local identity and traditional social
structures. As new forms of tourism become increasingly prominent, such as eco­
and heritage tourism, it has become an integral part of all societies, eliciting active
and complex responses (Wood, 1998). Some see the growth of tourism, and the
resultant globalisation, as an opportunity for less developed countries to carve out a
niche in the global market. This is possible since globalisation provides a means of
internationally promoting their many, and varied, tourism assets. These include year
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