Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
turing of the sector to break 'foreign domination' and ensure local control; the
question is rather what practical measures may be taken to increase the participa-
tion of local people - especially the local poor - in a robust but globally integrated
sector.
Ownership
The northern Botswana tourism cluster has its roots in the late 1950s when
hunting safari companies from East Africa began visiting with their clients.
Trophy hunting dominated until the 1970s when the photographic tourism sector
started to emerge led largely by expatriates from east and southern Africa who
obtained tribal or state leases in the prime areas of the delta. International media
exposure, proclaiming the Okavango as the 'jewel of the Kalahari', rapid growth in
the disposable income of northern source markets as well as improvements in
land and air communications, provided a stimulus for long haul tourists to visit
northern Botswana and resulted in rapid growth of the sector during the following
two decades. As these new markets developed, the number of establishments
burgeoned and the quality of tourism accommodation and services improved, but
the ownership patterns set in the early years remained largely intact (Massyn and
Koch, 2004).
By the early 1990s, the first generation of tourism leases in the delta termi-
nated. Second-round 'concessions' were subsequently awarded within a
framework set by a raft of new regulatory instruments (including the 1991 Land
Use Plan, the 1990 Tourism Policy and the 1992 Tourism Act). Under the new
dispensation, 15-year leases were offered via competitive tender, ostensibly to
Botswana citizens (or legal entities registered in Botswana). Despite these restric-
tions, incumbents - particularly a South-African-based group known as
Wilderness Safaris - were exceptionally successful in recapturing the prime
concession areas mainly through the use of subleasing arrangements. Although
industry players are reluctant to disclose such arrangements, it is known that
citizen leasees often collect substantial premiums in what appears to be classic
rent-seeking manoeuvres. This practice forms part of a complex - but rarely
discussed - system of rent apportionment that characterizes the Botswana system.
It allows Botswana nationals to interpose themselves between the state and
(mostly expatriate) third parties to appropriate a portion of the rents generated by
commerce in Ngamiland (Massyn and Koch, 2004).
Interestingly, the leases awarded during the 1990s do not contain explicit
provisions regarding citizen participation. It appears the land leases do not
impose contractually enforceable obligations on lodge operators to ensure greater
equity in their labour and procurement practices. Operators are required to
submit a 'localization and training plan' to the Commissioner of Labour and to
submit annual reports providing information on their practices in this regard. But
it appears there is no consistent monitoring or enforcement of these plans by the
Botswana authorities and that Government has therefore not used its position as
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