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

Seventy four percent of the 50 local inhabitants stated that they thought the
provision of social services and infrastructure in Maun and Ngamiland District over
the last decade was directly influenced by the growth of tourism in the Okavango
Delta region. Only 13 (26 percent) of the 50 respondents felt that that the current
infrastructural development and the provision of social services in Ngamiland District
was not a direct result of the development of the tourism industry in the area.
Instead, they viewed the development as a result of other factors such as efforts by
the government to promote rural development.
According to Mbaiwa (2002), 68.6 percent of the business managers in Maun link
the success of their businesses to the growth of tourism in the Okavango Delta.
They stated that the improvement of infrastructure and the provision of social
services in Maun and the Ngamiland District are directly linked to tourism. They
perceived Maun as a tourist centre in which most of the tourist offices are located,
and that the supply of goods for tourist camps and lodges in the Okavango Delta
comes from Maun. Maun is also the departure centre for most tourists visiting the
Okavango Delta, and its population has more than doubled over the past 15 years.
As a result, social services and infrastructure have developed to meet the needs of
both the tourism industry as well as the local population living in Maun (Mbaiwa,
2002).
6.4.4.1 Transport and Communication Systems
Up until the late 1980s, much of northern Botswana was virtually inaccessible to
most people due to the lack of a reliable road network, as there were no tarred toads
and many of the dirt tracks in the area became impassable during the wet season.
This situation began to change, however, during the Botswana National
Development Plan 6 of 1986 to 1991, when the Botswana Government started
focusing on tourism's potential contribution to the country's diamond-based
economy. Today, northern Botswana has over 1622 kilometres of tarred road, which
provide a link between Maun and most of the larger towns and villages throughout
the Okavango Delta, all the major centres in Botswana, as well as the neighbouring
countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia's Caprivi Strip.
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