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

foreigners reflects the inadequacy of the state, which rarely has the desire or the
ability to limit development without loosing what are perceived as valuable jobs and
revenue (France, 1997).
The neo-Iiberal paradigm is concerned with market forces. It typifies the mass
tourism industry in which multinational companies based in the developed nations
shape and direct the developed world demand, regardless of whether the
destinations are in the developed or less developed areas or nations. Even though
the profit margins per tourist may be small, the total financial returns to these
companies are generally large. Other related characteristics include the limited or
negligible role both of local lifestyles and the majority of local people involved in low­
income, low-status occupations. These realities are often hidden behind glossy
advertising which highlights distinctive traditions and customs as attractions for
tourists. The much vaunted jobs and revenue are just as deceptive. The former are
frequently considered by Western academics, and even by the tourists themselves,
as low-income and low-status. This, however, may not be the attitude of many of
those employed in such jobs within relatively poor destination countries, where
alternatives may be even less financially rewarding, less secure and more
distasteful. A significant amount of the revenue fails to accrue to local people as it is
leaked out of the local, regional and national economy (France, 1997).
There are several convergent ideas within neo-populist development, with its focus
on a bottom-up approach involving local people from the beginning. Some of these
can be traced to sustainable forms of development and related to tourism.
Alternative approaches that stem from grass-roots development, including certain
types of ecotourism and community-based tourism, such as the Campfire project in
Zimbabwe and the Casamance scheme in Senegal, show more suitable
characteristics than does mass package tourism. These examples also illustrate the
desire to generate small-scale enterprises, such as the increasing use of local
agricultural produce in islands like St Lucia and Barbados in the Caribbean.
Movements to return to traditional values and skills can result in cultural and craft
revivals that can act as important tourist attractions, as well as increase local pride
and self-confidence and boost the local economy. It is not just through cultural
events like carnivals and local craft production that participation in tourism can
emerge, but also through agricultural diversification that important linkages may
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