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

companies, 6 (40 percent) to jointly owned citizen and foreign companies and 5 (33
percent) to entirely foreign companies. This means that 11 of the 15 concession
areas leased by the Tawana Land Board in 2001 had/have foreign involvement and
control.
Table 6.19: Concession Areas Leased by the Tawana Land Board in 2001
Ownership No. of Concession Areas Percentage
Citizen 4 27
Jointly 6 40
Foreign 5 33
Total 15 100
Source: Adapted From Mbaiwa, 2002.
Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the tourist industry in the
Okavango Delta is predominantly foreign owned and controlled. As such, the
industry has been designed, and services and infrastructure built, to meet the needs
of international clientele from overseas countries.
According to Cooper et al (1993), this form of foreign ownership is not unique to
Botswana. Most Third World tourism industries are dominated by foreign ownership
and participation, especially in the accommodation sector. As Ndubano (2000) also
highlights, in many developing tourism industries there is a danger in foreign
involvement and ownership reaching proportions where any meaningful participation
by local citizens is impossible. The domination of the tourism industry in the
Okavango Delta by foreign interest has led to the loss of resource control by the
local population (Ndubano, 2000). The implementation of the Community-Based
Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme in the Delta, and Botswana as
a whole, is seen as a possible means to involve the local population in the tourism
industry and lessen the extent of 'enclave development' in the area. However, as will
be discussed further in this chapter, the success of the CBNRM programme in
empowering local citizens to effectively take part in Botswana's tourism industry is
still under debate.
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