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

Table 6.18: Ownership of Tourist Facilities in the Okavango Delta (2003/2004)
Ownership Number Percentage
Foreign Owned 46 54
Jointly Foreign and Citizen Owned 23 27
Citizen Owned 16 19
Total 85 100
These findings correlate with both Silitshena and McLeod's (1998) and Mbaiwa's
(2002) research regarding the ownership of the accommodation and transportation
sector in the Delta and Maun. According to Mbaiwa (2002), 43 percent of the safari
companies, and 63 percent of tourism businesses in Maun and the Delta are
completely foreign owned. Thirty-three percent of safari companies and 23 percent
of tourism businesses have joint foreign and local ownership. Only 23 percent of
safari companies and 14 percent of tourism businesses are entirely locally owned.
According to Silitshena and McLeod (1998), 82 of 97 (85 percent) accommodation
and transportation companies in Maun and the rest of the Delta have foreign
involvement, with 50 (51 percent) of these being entirely foreign owned, 33 (34
percent) being jointly foreign and locally owned, and 14 (15 percent) being entirely
owned by local citizens of Botswana. It must, however, be noted that even though
approximately 15 percent of tourism facilities, companies and businesses in the
Delta are owned by Botswana citizens, a number of these citizens are white people
who have lived in Botswana for a long time an hence taken on Botswana citizenship,
giving up their original foreign citizenship. As a result, the number of tourist facilities,
companies and businesses in the Delta that are actually owned by black Botswana
citizens is much lower than 15 percent.
Furthermore, according to Mbaiwa (2002), data from the licensing office in the
Department of Tourism (2000) indicates that out of 103 tourism-related businesses
registered in Maun and the Ngamiland District, 16 (15,5 percent) were citizen
owned, 36 (35 percent) were jointly owned, while 51 (49.5 percent) were foreign
owned. This therefore shows that 87 (84.5 percent) of the tourism-related companies
registered in Maun and operational in Ngamiland District have direct foreign
involvement. Table 6.19 shows the concession areas in the Ngamiland District
leased by the Tawana Land Board in 2001. Four (27 percent) were leased to citizen
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