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

CHAPTER SIX
The Okavango Delta's Tourism Industry
6.1 Introduction
One of the major challenges facing Botswana, and the Okavango Delta region, in
the Twenty First Century is the attempt by the government to bring about
development and modernisation in the area through the creation of a world-class
tourism industry, without compromising the livelihoods of its local inhabitants, or the
environmental and natural resources upon which this industry is based. The
implementation of policies controlling hunting, and land and natural resource use
since the late 1800s has ensured that the Okavango Delta has remained, for the
most part, unspoiled by modern development. However, the development of tourism
in the region over the past two decades has brought about unprecedented changes
to the Delta in the form of infrastructural development, economic growth and
employment opportunities. As the Delta's tourism industry grows, its social,
environmental and economic impacts are increasingly transforming, in both positive
and negative ways, the Delta's environment, population and local economy.
This chapter presents an overview of the Okavango Delta's tourism industry. It
focuses on the type and origin of tourists visiting the Delta, the tourism
accommodation sector and the growth of enclave tourism in the region. Lastly, it
assesses the economic impact of the tourism industry in the Okavango Delta area.
6.2 Tourism in Botswana
In an attempt to develop the tourism industry in a coordinated and consistent
manner, the Botswana Government formulated the Tourism Policy of 1990. This
policy emphasised the promotion of an up-market orientated, 'high-cost, low-volume'
tourism industry, discouraging an influxof low-income tourists whose impact can
cause irreparable damage to fragile ecosystems. The policy seeks to target the high
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