The Realities of Ecotourism Development in Botswana - Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development - page 193

Botswana is characterized by tourism facilities being under foreign ownership, top
management positions that attract better salaries being held by expatriates, the
repatriation of funds from Botswana to developed countries; and its failure to
contribute effectively to poverty alleviation in Botswana (Mbaiwa, 2005). While
enclave tourism brings insignificant benefits (e.g. employment, income, owner-
ship of facilities, etc.) to local people, ecotourism revenue benefits accrue to the
communities participating in ecotourism development.
Even though enclave tourism and ecotourism development in Botswana
compete for the same resources and clientele, local communities cannot match
their foreign counterparts, particularly when the competition is the foreign-
owned safari companies. Foreign-owned companies possess the necessary
entrepreneurial skills in tourism, such as the ability to market their product in
developed countries where the tourists originate. They also have management
skills and technological know-how which are not readily available among local
groups. Foreign-owned companies also have strong financial capital with which to
establish tourism projects while local investors lack the necessary funds. In this
respect, enclave tourism remains one of the main challenges to ecotourism devel-
opment in Botswana.
Lack of entrepreneurial skills in tourism development
Local communities involved in ecotourism face problems because of their limited
entrepreneurial skills, especially in the marketing of their ecotourism products.
The level of education among indigenous populations is low and the ability to
communicate in English, French, German, Spanish or any other foreign language
by rural communities is meagre or almost non-existent. Similarly, limited skills in
marketing will mean a lack of the necessary negotiating business skills in
ecotourism development, especially with clients and other safari operators
involved in joint-venture partnerships. For this reason, most Trusts have opted for
joint partnerships with international safari companies who have the skills and
experience in tourism development. The Government of Botswana expect joint-
venture partnerships to transfer entrepreneurial and management skills from
safari operators to the local people (DWNP, 1999). However, the joint-venture
partnership system in Botswana is very weak and there has been no significant
transfer of such skills between safari hunting operators and Trusts (Mbaiwa,
2007). There has been no quantifiable collaboration and learning between safari
companies and communities as was expected by the Government.The acquisition
of entrepreneurial and managerial skills therefore remains one of the major
challenges for communities involved in ecotourism in Botswana.
Lack of re-investment, mismanagement and
misappropriation of funds
The lack of entrepreneurial skills by communities has also led to funds obtained
from ecotourism projects either being kept in the bank without being re-invested,
or being misappropriated or mismanaged (Mbaiwa, 2007). For example, in 2000,