Tourism is often perceived as an easy way to generate income
without putting in much effort. In practice it is not that
easy. To run a successful tourism enterprise you need to make
substantial investments, you need to have knowledge about
the peculiarities of the tourism sector, you need to be part
of a network and possess business management and marketing
skills. But people with access to a tourism attraction that
can be marketed and who have sufficient capital try, and some
with success. The tourism business in Maun and Kasane in Northern
Botswana is booming. Tour operators, mobile safari companies,
lodges and camps, tour guiding and catering services are mushrooming.
Tourism in Botswana is becoming a major investment opportunity
and is generating substantial employment.
Communities developing tourism enterprises additional hurdles
have to be taken. Communities (or their representative legally
registered organisations) do not use private, but community
capital, and most of the times make use of common property
natural resources. The decision-making on what resources to
use in a tourism venture, how to use them and how to control
access is complicated, as the land, the wildlife and other
resources are communally owned. The management of a business
venture is complicated as well as the business is owned by
and should benefit the entire community. Often community projects
fail as "everyone's business turns into no one's business"!
For
community tourism projects to succeed it is necessary to add
something to the above mentioned elements of a successful
tourism enterprise. The organisation of the community and
its institutional development are of vital importance. This
publication will therefore not so much focus on the tourism
products, the required management of a tourism enterprise,
the marketing constraints and opportunities but more on the
approaches followed by the communities to organise themselves
to use communal resources in an economically viable, equitable
and ecologically sustainable way.
Three case studies were done in /Xai-/Xai, D'kar and Ukhwi.
The findings are presented in separate files that can be downloaded:
· "Among the real people in /Xai-/Xai" (PDF
Format) by Tara Gujadhur & Charles Motshubi.
· "At the Dqãe Qare game farm in Ghanzi"
(PDF Format) by Elvia van den Berg
· "Living for tomorrow in the southern Kalahari"
(PDF Format) by Michael Vosa Flyman
The main document (PDF Format) (introduction, background and
lessons learnt section) was prepared by Nico Rozemeijer of
the CBNRM Support Programme.
This report aims to answer two questions on the basis of three
case studies:
1. Which pre-conditions have to be met for a community to
operate a successful tourism business? What positive lessons
can be drawn from our case studies, and what mistakes to avoid?
2. What are the benefits for the rural poor and especially
what are the intangible benefits? To what extent is the objective
of empowering poor communities to take control over their
land and resources, to tap their potential and acquire skills
to design their own development, achieved in our case studies?
