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

and restaurant sectors were expatriates and their average salaries were several
times higher than the earnings of unskilled local labourers (Mbaiwa, 2002).
6.4.4 Tourism's Contribution to Infrastructural Development and the
Provision of Social Services in the Okavango Delta Region
The development of tourism in the Okavango Delta has led to unprecedented
economic growth over the past ten years or so in this region. Following diamond
exports, tourism is now the second biggest earner for Botswana, contributing around
five percent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2000. Including air
travel, each foreign tourist spends an average of about US$ 1000 per day during a
visit to the Delta. Tourism has therefore led to the generation of foreign exchange,
the development of infrastructure, particularly in Maun, the district headquarters and
administrative centre, and the conservation of the Okavango Delta and its resources.
The expansion of tourism in the Delta has led to the establishment of various tourism
related businesses in Maun, such as wholesale and retail trades, construction and
other related services, as well as improved transport and communications
infrastructure. Tourism to the Delta has also helped put Botswana on the 'world
map', giving it a reputation that few countries in Africa match (Mendelsohn and el
Obeid, 2004; Republic of Botswana Statistical Bulletin, 2004).
Tourism in the Okavango Delta has also stimulated infrastructural development in
northern Botswana. Major road networks have been tarred, making access to
northern Botswana and its neighbouring states of Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia
easier and quicker. Goods and services are now able to reach the Okavango region
much more easily. In comparing Maun with other major towns with roughly the same
human population and administrative status (e.g., district headquarters) in the
country, Maun has developed exceedingly fast over the past 10 to 15 years,
comparable perhaps only to the development rate seen in Gaborone over the past
decade.
As discussed in the methodology of this study (chapter four), a total of 50 local
inhabitants, from five different villages and towns located throughout the Okavango
Delta, were randomly chosen and interviewed with the aid of an interpreter between
April 2003 and September 2004.
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