Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa – Investment and Employment - Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development - page 243

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Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa -
Investment and Employment
Piers Relly
Introduction
This chapter will briefly explore the debate around tourism research in relation to
poverty relief for local residents - and look at the ongoing economic impacts of
investment and employment in a large wildlife reserve.
Madikwe Game Reserve (MGR) is a 60,000ha provincially managed reserve
located in the north-west Province of South Africa on the Botswana/South Africa
border (see Figure 12.1). The reserve was established from scratch in the early
1990s and stocked with around 10,000 head of wildlife. It ranks as a 'big five'
destination (offers viewing of buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhinoceros) but
has also established a reputation for its wild dog sightings. Madikwe serves the
international and domestic tourism markets targeted mainly at the mid- to high-
spending tourist. Included in the offerings within the park is a mixture of
commercial and corporate lodges. The corporate lodges are owned and used
privately by syndicate members, enjoying the same game viewing privileges as the
commercial tourists. Commercial lodges are operated for profit and take paying
customers.
The reserve was established by the provincial tourism authority, North West
Parks and Tourism Board (NWPTB) primarily for socioeconomic reasons with
conservation being a desirable but secondary objective (Davies, 1997). This
makes it somewhat of an anomaly in the larger game reserve genre, where the
primary purpose for establishment historically in South Africa (prior to the
1990s) was usually preservation or biodiversity related.