Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 10.1 Ownership of tourism businesses in Ngamiland (by number)
Ownership
2000
2005
% change
Citizen-owned
16
62
46
Joint venture
36
59
23
Foreign-owned
51
80
29
Totals
103
201
98
Source: Botswana Department of Tourism, 2005
sit uncomfortably in a sector steeped in the imagery of colonialism on land
formerly occupied by the rural poor. One of the deep, but often unrecognized,
challenges of the African lodge sector is therefore to renovate not only its business
practices by building stronger linkages with the rural poor but also to discover a
new brand based on imagery appropriate to changed circumstances.
Against this background, the latest ownership statistics for Ngamiland
compiled by the Botswana authorities makes for interesting reading.
The figures indicate that the tourism industry in Ngamiland continued to
expand rapidly between 2000 and 2005 with the overall number of enterprises
nearly doubling. During this period, the number of citizen-owned businesses
increased by almost 300 per cent, but 139 (or nearly 70 per cent) of the 201
businesses operational in 2005 were still either wholly or partly owned by non-
citizens.
Table 10.2 indicates that most Category A businesses in Ngamiland (hotels,
bed and breakfasts, and motels) are citizen-owned. Ownership of Category B
facilities (safari lodges), which include most of the high value lodges in the
Okavango Delta, is still dominated by foreigners either through direct holdings or
via joint ventures with citizens. Of the 107 enterprises in this category, nearly 77
per cent (82 of 107) have some form of foreign ownership. Likewise, 66 per cent
(47 of 71) of the Category C businesses (mobile operators) and 72 per cent (8 of
11) of the Category D businesses (travel agencies) involve foreign ownership
(Figure 10.1).
The ownership figures provided by the Department of Tourism segment the
industry by number and category of enterprise.They do not provide an indication
of the scale or value of the individual enterprises nor do they disaggregate the
Table 10.2 Ownership of tourism businesses in Ngamiland (by category)
Category
Totals
Ownership
Citizen
Joint-venture
Foreign
A
12
10
2
0
B
107
25
41
41
C
71
24
13
34
D
11
3
3
5
Totals
201
62
59
80
Source: Botswana Department of Tourism, 2005
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