Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A couple of community tourism camps in GMAs had serious land use
conflicts with nearby safari hunting outfitters as hunting in the same area discour-
aged non-consumptive wildlife viewing and posed threats to tourist health and
safety. This was primarily due to a lack of consultation, communication and land
use planning. The Mukuni Development Trust also had disputes with rafting
companies in Livingstone who were reluctant to pay fees to use access routes on
the chief 's land. Future business projections varied from very pessimistic from
those whose support from NGOs and donors had withdrawn to highly optimistic
from those who continued to be supported and/or had developed good linkages
with the private sector. Community members at several donor-funded accommo-
dation facilities expressed exasperation at being effectively abandoned by NGOs
and unable to manage the failing business. A few enterprises were hopeful for the
future and most expressed a desire to partner with tourism companies.
Critical issues and lessons learnt in Zambia
Overall, the number of bed-nights and income captured by community tourism
enterprises was extremely small. A few of the earliest projects had failed and were
no longer operational such as Dudumwenze Campsite, Muwele Cultural Village
and Lochinvar Community Campsite. The three 'Bushcamps' in the Luangwa
valley supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society and facilitated by the
Tourism Development Credit Facility remained in debt. Furthermore, many new
enterprises will struggle to be profitable mainly because development had been
inappropriately donor-driven and not market-led. Survey respondents from 29
private sector tourism companies suggested that on average 44 per cent of their
tourists were interested in community and cultural activities suggesting a ready
market for new community products. However, most companies identified
constraints such as the industry not being consulted during market research and
product development, attractions in the wrong place, a lack of skills and capacity,
and illegal operations that resulted in highly variable and often low product
quality, a lack of understanding of tourism at the community level, and barriers to
cooperation. The level of donor funding and infrastructure development
appeared to have a negative correlation with enterprise performance. This does
not necessarily imply, however, that external assistance cannot be effective. Other
factors that contributed to poor business performance were multiple and conflict-
ing objectives, internal community disputes and poor local governance, a lack of
information dissemination, coordination and planning, and sharing of common
lessons learnt.
Key determinants of enterprise performance included linkages to tourism
companies, proximity to main tourism routes, competitive advantage, financial
management, visitor handling and community motivation. Several private sector
tour operators 'championed' the most successful community enterprises, provid-
ing technical advice and marketing support. However, community tourism looked
likely to remain for the most part an optional activity in existing tours as Zambia
is a relatively expensive destination, time schedules are tight and it is extremely
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