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

of an almost extinct form of folk art, and also stimulated a renewed interest in
developing new art styles of considerable merit, for retail to tourists (Schneider,
1993).
Tourism can also encourage civic involvement and pride within a community. In
some instances it has fostered increased cohesiveness and activated stronger
protection of traditional culture. Tourism revenue can help to support community
facilities and services, such as a local recreation facility, that might otherwise not be
affordable (Schneider, 1993).
It has been suggested that education in developing countries, at the post-primary
level, has expanded partly due to an increase in tourism. The expansion of tourism
increased the demand for educated, literate and skilled personnel from both the
public and private sectors. Furthermore, as social mobility increases, achieved
indicators of status such as education, occupation, linguistic ability, overseas travel,
and dress will displace the traditional birth-ascribed values of skin colour and family
birthright in traditional developing and agricultural communities (Schneider, 1993).
2.8.4 Negative Social Impacts of Tourism
The investigation into the physical effects of tourism shows that cultural differences
between the tourists and the hosts underlies much of the damage caused by
tourism. Tourism may create crowding, congestion and pollution, as well as social
and cultural changes in destinations or host communities (Schneider, 1993; Martha,
1993). The cultural changes are numerous. Firstly, traditional work patterns in the
host community are disrupted by tourism development. This is especially evident in
rural areas, where people leave agricultural and other traditional jobs for those in the
tourism industry. This can result in a change in the time of day one works. Under
traditional agricultural practices, the work is done during daylight hours, while in the
tourism industry work during night hours is often required (Martha, 1993).
The 'demonstration effect' is another direct social impact, caused by the
development of tourism in rural areas. This occurs when tourists influence changes
in the behaviour of host communities.
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