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

highest share of the mining sector to GDP was 52,6 percent in 1983/84, but its
contribution to GDP by 2000/01 had decreased to 36,5 percent. Other sectors such
as Government, Finance and Business services and Trade have made a substantial
contribution to the economy during this period (Republic of Botswana National
Development Plan 9,2003).
Botswana's key to sustainable development centres on global competitiveness and
economic diversification, as every country, including Botswana, faces great
challenges from increasing globalisation, which requires domestic economic policies
and strategies to be responsive to global challenges. Botswana's economy is an
open one with a high trade-to-GDP rate which is closely intertwined with the
overarching global economies (Republic of Botswana National Development Plan 9,
2003).
The significance of developing a long-term socio-economic development perspective
for Botswana was recognised in 1997, when the development of "A Long-term Vision
for Botswana: Towards Prosperity for All", or 'Vision 2016' was released (Republic of
Botswana National Development Plan 9, 2003, p.12). While national development
plans in Botswana have always been guided by four national principles of
Democracy, Development, Self-reliance and Unity, Vision 2016 strives for a
refocusing of these principles to embrace change and to relate them to the country's
development challenges. According to the Vision, by the Year 2016 Botswana must
have identified goals to be reached, major challenges that must be met, and
opportunities that must be productively exploited to attain these national aspirations
(Republic of Botswana National Development Plan 9, 2003).
Vision 2016 set a target of trebling the per capita real income of Batswana over the
20 year period from 1996 to 2016. This would require per capita real GDP to grow at
an average annual rate of approximately 5,6 percent, and total real GDP to grow at
about 8 percent per annum. Compared to this target, the actual average growth rate
of total GDP from 1995/96 to 2000/01 has been lower, at approximately 7,0 percent
per year. This, together with the latest projections, indicates that the average growth
rate from 1995/96 to 2008/09 will be around 5,9 percent per annum. With the
population growing at an average rate of 2,1 percent per year, per capita income will
grow at approximately 3,7 percent per year over this period, as compared to the 5,6
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