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

unemployment in most of the countries that generate the principle flows of
international tourists (Williams, 1998; Timothy, 2001; Shaw and Williams, 2004; Hall,
2005).
International tourism can be considered an export industry, and therefore may
provide unparalleled opportunities for earning foreign exchange. Hence, its not
surprising that since the 1960s international tourism has often been seen as a
dynamic engine for economic development in both high and low income countries
(Schaller, 1996; Scheyvens, 2002). The fastest growth rates in international tourism
are often found in developing countries. The increase in international tourism has
also resulted in forms of tourism which provides alternatives to mass tourism (Hunter
and Green, 1995). According to Gamble (1989, p. 2), international tourists can be
defined as "... people who, mainly in the pursuit of pleasure, cross a frontier and stay
at least 24 hours in a foreign country". Around 80 percent of international tourists
originate from North America and Europe, both rich, industrialised regions (Williams,
1998; Shaw and Williams, 2004).
Higher incomes, the provision of a wide number of retail outlets, the development of
package tours and the commodification of foreign travel, the provision of good
quality, low cost accommodation and transport, and the provision of local tour and
holiday guides who liase between visitor and host, have given millions of people the
opportunity to comfortably travel to foreign destinations (Ward, 1997; Williams, 1998;
Robson, 2002).
2.6 Mass Tourism
As one of history's oldest commercial enterprises, tourism has become one of the
world's largest industries (WTTC, 1992; Williams and Shaw, 2004). On the demand
side, this prominence is a result of post-World War 11 affluence and increased leisure
in developed countries, and a marked decline in the relative cost of travel. On the
supply side, the mutually beneficial confluence of airlines, tour operators, travel
agents and hotel chains, together with receptive governments, particularly in less
developed countries, has created a vast, global network of vacation opportunities.
Many less developed governments have been especially eager to reap the foreign
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