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4 DIRECT USE VALUE: TOURISM 4.1 General overview of tourism The economic growth that has taken place in Botswana since the 1970s, following the discovery of diamonds, saw improved infrastructure and access and increased investor confidence and paved the way for the subsequent growth of the tourism industry in the country (Boggs 2005). The wildlifebased tourism industry is now Botswana’s second largest income earner after diamond mining, contributing 5.0% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (Mbaiwa 2005). It accounts for 40% of employment opportunities in northern Botswana 1 . Botswana’s first Tourism Policy of 1990 pursued a high value/low volume tourism strategy, which included differential pricing with high prices for foreigners, limiting park access to 4x4 vehicles, limiting the size of lodges and camps to a maximum of 16 beds and limiting the number of camp sites inside protected areas. This policy has been particularly successful in the northern reserves (Moremi and Chobe; Magole & Gojamang 2005). The Okavango Delta is a unique feature and is Botswana’s major tourist attraction. Tourism in the area was almost non-existent in the 1970s (Campbell & von Richer 1976). Since then it has grown dramatically, with the establishment of large numbers of tourism lodges in the area and further use by numerous mobile safari operators. . The first photographic safari lodges were established in Botswana in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Before that Botswana was mainly a hunting safari destination (Magole & Gojamang 2005). Today there are approximately 2 hotels, 9 guesthouses and 93 lodges/camps in the study area. In addition, there are at least 70 mobile safari operators leading tours into the area (Appendix 2). Tourism is centred on the Moremi Game Reserve and the surrounding Wildlife Management Areas, with most access being mainly via the growing settlement of Maun, where many of the abovementioned operations are based. The Moremi Game Reserve, established in 1963, is Botswana’s second most important protected area in terms of revenue generation, with almost 40 000 visitors in 2003. Tourism use is nonconsumptive, and includes camping, boating and walking trails as well as conventional game viewing. The Moremi Game Reserve brought in revenues of P7.335 million in 2003 (Mbaiwa 2005). None of these revenues are shared with local communities, who are also not involved in the management of the reserve, although members of the Khwai community were displaced when the reserve was established (Mbaiwa 2005). Tourist numbers have increased dramatically over the last three decades, from 4500 people in 1971 (Mbaiwa 2005), and reaching nearly 50 000 visitors in 1998. This trend is probably true for the area in general, with the slow-down in tourism in the last 7 years being ascribed to the problems in Zimbabwe, as well as international upsets such as the 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre. Facilities in the reserve have also grown over time and now include three safari lodges (Okuti, Moremi and Moremi Safaris) and 10 private camp sites as well as the four public camping sites. The reserve accounts for some 30% of visits to national parks in Botswana. Visitors to fixed lodges accounted for about 40-50% of total visitations to protected areas in 1995 – 2000, but this proportion has been declining over the past 10 years as the numbers of mobile safari tourists have increased to 30-40%. Private tourists make up the remainder. Fixed lodge tourists are the highest income visitors who also spend the most on their visits, compared with mobile safari tourists who are medium-high income visitors. The loss of exclusivity in protected areas may have caused the elite tourists to seek fresh destinations elsewhere (Magole & Gojamang 2005). Moremi captures a fraction of the Okavango Delta tourism business. Outside Moremi, the tourism industry is centred on photographic safari camps and hunting safari camps in the Wildlife Management Areas surrounding the game reserve. The photographic safari camps are mostly luxury tented camps, whereas the hunting camps are often more basic. There are also a handful of fishing camps in the area. All of the camps within WMAs are temporary structures which may be removed with very little trace once the leases have expired. Companies owning camps within commercial 1 http://www.safaribwana.com/COUNTRIES/Botswana/indexbwa.htm 24
WMAs pay a lease to the local government land board. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the company’s turnover. Companies with camps within community WMAs (described below) pay a lease directly to the community, as well as royalties for hunting. The Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act of 1992 gave rise to Botswana’s Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Programme in which the control of natural resources is devolved to the communities. Between 1993 and 2002, community management areas (CMAs) were assigned within some of the previously designated wildlife management areas (WMAs), and zoned for multiple use of natural resources (both consumptive and non-consumptive). Management plans were produced for each CMA (Boggs 2005). The recipient communities (existing residents or closest neighbours) were identified, were required to elect a council or board, and register as a trust or community-based organisation (CBO) as a ‘representative and accountable legal entity’ (RALE). The community then had to apply to DWNP for a wildlife hunting quota that would be managed by the RALE (Boggs 2005). Communities were then encouraged to enter into a joint venture agreement (JVA) with commercial operators, and to enter into 15 year leases with safari operators to manage photographic or hunting operations. In practice the leases were broken down into short term contracts of 1 – 5 years. Under these JVAs, communities receive revenues from lease payments and land rental, wages and rations, community development funds and game quota fees. In some cases, communities do not enter into JVAs but opt to sell their annual wildlife quota from DWNP on auction to individual safari hunters and safari companies. For example, the Khwai Development Trust earned P550 000 to P1.2 million per year in this way from 2000 to 2002, although it is considered that revenues would be higher under a JVA (Mbaiwa 2005). The CBNRM programme differs from other regional programmes such as in Zimbabwe and Zambia, in that most revenue is returned to and controlled by the community rather than the state. It is largely considered to be successful in Botswana (Arntzen et al. 2003). The benefits from CBNRM in terms of income generation, employment and local participation in wildlife management are leading to the development of positive attitudes of local communities towards wildlife conservation and tourism development in communities such as at Khwai (NG18/19; Mbaiwa 2005). However, it should be noted that in some cases the income from CBNRM has been sporadic, due to problems associated with bad relationships between communities and operators, or within communities, and problems are largely associated with the short duration of the contracts (Boggs 2005). 4.2 Seasonality and prices Tourism in the Okavango Delta area is strongly seasonal, with the high season being from July to October, and the low season from November to April, although there is a slight increase in activity over the Christmas period. Occupancy is reportedly very low during the off season, during which regional tourists are enticed with cheaper packages. The seasonality is strongly reflected in the price changes (Figure 4-1). US$ per person sharing 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Dec-05 20Dec-10Jan Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 Jun-06 Jul-06 Aug-06 Sep-06 Oct-06 Nov-06 Figure 4-1. Changes in the average price of photographic tourism camps in the Okavango Delta area (n = 26 camps) 25
Page 1: Economic value of the Cover Okavang
Page 5 and 6: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was f
Page 7 and 8: # # # # # # # # # # typically quite
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Page 17 and 18: 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The O
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Page 21 and 22: 2 STUDY AREA 2.1 Location and exten
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Page 25 and 26: 2.2.5 Soils The soils of the delta
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Page 31 and 32: 3 VALUATION FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLO
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Page 49 and 50: 5.3.2 Cropping Some 75% of househol
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The SAM can also provide an indicat
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9.3 Description of selected scenari
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9.3.4 Scenario 4. Wise use plus ups
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9.4 Parameters under different scen
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10 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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11 REFERENCES Abril, A & Bucher, E.
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Mbaiwa, J.E. 2002. The socio-econom
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12 GLOSSARY Abstraction - pumping w
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Profit - the difference between 'gr
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14 APPENDIX 2. TOURISM OPERATIONS I
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69 Wilderness Dawning 70 Wilmot Saf
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FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC MODEL - HIGH QUA
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16 APPENDIX 4. THE SAFARI HUNTING E
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Table A5.1 Structure of a Social Ac
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The sum of this column is the total
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generation and household expenditur
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