Implications of Responsible Tourism for Conservation and Development in Southern Africa - Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development - page 344

Also considering Botswana, Peter John Massyn argues that some degree of
leakage is inevitable given the foreign domination of the market of safari lodges in
the country, and that radical policy changes are needed to restructure the indus-
try. Between 2000 and 2005 the number of tourism enterprises in Ngamiland
doubled, and the number owned by Botswanan citizens increased by almost 300
per cent. However, he notes that the high level of foreign ownership at the higher-
value end of the industry is a consequence of the expatriate-driven history of the
sector, and there is a need for enterprises to link to the international market for
clients. Massyn supports Mbaiwa's conclusion that local participation is
constrained by a culture that is non-entrepreneurial, but also states that the people
tend to be averse to risk. Extrapolating data from a survey of 20 tourism opera-
tions, Massyn estimates that the lodge sector in Ngamiland probably disbursed
more than P41 million (~US$7.5 million 1 ) and employed over 3000 Botswanans
in 2005. Although Botswanans comprised 90.6 per cent of the workforce, they
only captured 58.3 per cent of the total payroll. Gender inequality was apparent,
and, on average, Botswanan women received lower wages than Botswanan men.
Estimates of products and services purchased from local people were P59,000 per
annum (~US$10,840), or 8.9 per cent of payroll: effectively a small proportion of
total expenditure in 2005. In addition, lease fees paid by two lodges to community
trusts amounted to P555,000 per annum (~US$10,200), or about a third of the
total local financial benefit generated by the enterprises. Massyn reports that
current lease arrangements do not stipulate the need for indigenous empower-
ment, and the imminent renegotiation of expiring leases provides an opportunity
for including conditions for greater involvement of Botswanans. Recent case
studies developed by the African Safari Lodges programme by Spenceley (2008b,
c) and Massyn (2008) support the findings of Mbaiwa and Massyn in this
volume, and demonstrate further that the development of joint-ventures
frequently involve a 'donation' of equity to a host community, but that this part-
ownership is rarely linked to commercial risks or responsibilities. However, he
urges authorities to find an approach that does not stifle the industry by being too
onerous or bureaucratic.
Murray Simpson's analysis of the impacts of two nature-based tourism lodges
on the livelihoods of people in neighbouring communities had disappointing
levels of benefits from a joint-venture between the private sector, a conservation
parastatal and the local community. Since their inception Rocktail Bay and
Ndumo Lodges in South Africa have been promoted as responsible tourism
enterprises that have substantial local equity and benefit. However, through a
structured and integrated assessment protocol comprising participatory methods,
archival data collection, semi-structured interviews and structured questionnaires
in a household survey in 2004 and 2005, Simpson reveals that the impacts were
more conservative than had been previously thought. Simpson found that only a
few household members from the two neighbouring communities were employed
and trained at the lodges, and that there have only been small improvements in
local infrastructure financed by their lodge dividends. In both communities, the
benefits of social capital and natural resources have been offset by conflicts,