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

most direct economic impacts of tourism occurs within the primary sectors. Hence,
an increase in the number of tourists staying in accommodation facilities in a tourist
destination region would directly result in increased income generation in this sector
(Steyns, 1999).
6.3.4.1 Tourist Facilities in the Okavango Delta
By virtue of being Botswana's major tourist destination, the Okavango Delta and
Panhandle region contains approximately 85 permanent hotels, lodges and safari
camps, with several of them situated in Maun (Table 6.8 and Figure 6.4). In fact, the
increase in accommodation facilities in Maun and the Okavango Delta since the
1990s is one of the ways in which tourism growth and economic development in the
region can be measured. In 1989, for example, there were 32 accommodation
facilities in the Okavango Delta. This figure has since increased to 85
accommodation facilities in 2001 (Table 6.9), which represents an increase of 62.3
percent in the thirteen-year period. However, this figure is likely to be lower than the
actual number of facilities in the area as many hunting and safari camps within the
Delta are not permanent and therefore are not included in Table 6.8, Figure 6.4 and
Table 6.9 (Mpotokwane, 1990; Main, 2001; Roodt, 2004).
A structured questionnaire for the purpose of interviews was distributed to 70 of the
85 permanent hotels, lodges and safari camps situated within Maun and the
Okavango Delta and Panhandle region. Responses were received from 63 of these
facilities. Therefore 74 percent of the permanent hotels, lodges and safari camps in
the Okavango were sampled in this study.
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