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

Table 6.9: Number of Accommodation Facilities in Maun and the Okavango
Delta in 1989 and 2001
Type of Facility 1989 2001
Lodges 8 17
Camps 23 66
Hotels 1 2
Totals 32 85
Source: Adapted From Mpotokwane, 1990; Main, 2001; Roodt, 2004.
In 1989 there were approximately 15 non-permanent fishing and hunting camps
located in the Okavango Delta, which have increased to an estimated 45 over the
past 16 years (Mpotokwane, 1990; Main, 2001; Roodt, 2004). The increase in
accommodation facilities is associated with an increase in the number of available
rooms and beds in Botswana. According to the Botswana Tourism Development
Program (BTDP) (1999), there were 1759 rooms and 3562 beds available in
Botswana in 1996. Maun and the Okavango Delta accounted for 258 rooms, which
was 14.7 percent of the total share of rooms in the country. By 1998 it was estimated
that the total number of rooms in serviced accommodation had increased to 2284
rooms spread over 114 establishments, of which 482 rooms or 21.1 percent were in
Maun and the Okavango region. In 2001, the 85 permanent lodges, hotels and safari
camps in the Okavango were found to have a total of approximately 600 rooms or
1500 beds (BTDP, 1999; Mbaiwa, 2002).
Most tourist accommodation facilities in the Okavango Delta have, on average, more
than 50 tourists staying there each month. However, according to some of the
managers interviewed, during the peak tourist season (April to September) in
northern Botswana, there are often up to more than 500 tourists staying at some of
the larger facilities in a single month in the Delta, particularly in Maun (Figure 6.5).
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