Tourism Management 26 (2005) 157–172 Enclave tourism and its socio-economic impacts in the Okavango Delta, Botswana Joseph E. Mbaiwa* Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, University of Botswana, Private bag 285, Maun, Botswana Received 26 May 2003; accepted 12 August 2003 Abstract This paper draws on the dependency paradigm to explain the development of enclave tourism and its socio-economic impacts in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Using both primary and secondary data source, the study indicates that international tourists, foreign safari companies and investors dominate the tourism industry in the Okavango Delta. The foreign domination and ownership of tourism facilities has led to the repatriation of tourism revenue, domination of management positions by expatriates, lower salaries for citizen workers, and a general failure by tourism to significantly contribute to rural poverty alleviation in the Okavango region. Tourism as a result has a minimal economic impact on rural development mainly because it has weak linkages with the domestic economy, particularly agriculture. Because of its nature, tourism in the Okavango Delta cannot be described as being sustainable from a socio-economic perspective. In order to address problems of enclave tourism development and promote more inclusive and beneficial tourism development in the Okavango, there is need to adopt policies and strategies that will ensure that substantial amounts of tourism revenue are retained in the Okavango and Botswana. These strategies should also ensure that tourism development in the Okavango Delta has strong linkages with the rest of the economy in Botswana. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Okavango Delta; Enclave tourism; Dependency paradigm; Sustainable development; Poverty; International and domestic tourism 1. Introduction Tourism is arguably the world’s largest and fastest growing industry, accounting for 5.5% of the global Gross National Product and 6% of the employment (Glasson, Godfrey, & Goodey, 1999). Tourism is usually promoted by a country for its ability to spread economic development and reduce inequalities in income distribu- tion by providing employment to people in a particular geographical area (Pearce, 1988; Coccossis & Parpairis, 1995; Wahab & Pigram, 1997). Governments, particu- larly in the Third World encourage tourism investment because of the assumption that it will contribute to economic development of their countries (Hall, 1995). In poor countries, regions, towns and cities, tourism is seen as a fast track to development (Glasson et al., 1999). Governments therefore, view tourism as a catalyst for national and regional development, bringing employ- ment, exchange earnings, balance of payments advan- tages and important infrastructure developments benefiting locals and visitors alike (Glasson et al., 1999). In the Southern African state of Botswana, tourism was almost non-existent at the country’s independence in 1966 (Mbaiwa, 2002). By 2000, it had grown to be the second largest economic sector in the country contribut- ing 4.5% to Botswana Gross Domestic product (Botswana Tourism Development Programme, BTDP, 1999; Department of Tourism, DoT, 2000). Much of Botswana’s holiday tourists visit the Okavango Delta (an inland wetland) and rich wildlife habitat located in northwestern Botswana (Fig. 1). The Okavango Delta became a wetland of international importance and a Ramsar site in 1997. It is home to 5000 types of insect, 3000 plant, 540 bird, 164 mammal, 157 reptile and 80 fish species as well as countless micro-organisms (Rothert, 1997). It is also home to over 122,000 people who live within and around the region (Central Statistics Office, CSO, 2002). The wide variety of wildlife species and a relatively pristine wilderness habitat attracts ARTICLE IN PRESS *Corresponding author. Tel.: +267-686-1-835; fax: +267-686-1- 835. E-mail address: jmbaiwa@orc.ub.bw, mbaiwaje@hotmail.com (J.E. Mbaiwa). 0261-5177/$-see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2003.11.005