Botswana nature-based tourism and COVID-19: transformational implications for the future

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 poses a huge threat to the tourism industry. Not only is COVID-19 a health challenge, but it is also a socio-economic and ecological emergency. The UNWTO anticipates a 20-30% decline in tourist arrivals, a huge blow for sub-Saharan countries whose economies depend on nature-based tourism. Using qualitative document analysis, this paper presents an analysis of the interlinkages between COVID-19 and nature-based tourism, resultant impacts and implications for the future of tourism in Botswana. Results show that the disease spread in Botswana has resulted in far reaching socio-economic and environmental repercussions. These include revenue losses, business closures, retrenchments, and loss of opportunities for financing community development projects; wildlife straying beyond their normal ranges posing a threat to life and increasing chances of poaching. Lessons learnt for the future transformational agenda include the need to intensify domestic tourism; virtual operations and strategies for human-wildlife co-existence.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 impacts
• nature-based tourism
• Botswana

Notes

1 1 BWP = 0.0870 US$ on 24 April 2021 (https://www.myus.com/countries/exchange-rates/)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wame L. Hambira

Wame L. Hambira (PhD) is a Senior Research Scholar at the Okavango Research Institute of the University of Botswana. Her research interests include tourism and climate change adaptation; tourism dependent communities’ resilience to climate change; private sector sustainability practices; and analysing gaps in national and sub-regional policy frameworks in the context of sustainable development and green economies. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Oulu, Finland and an MSc in Environmental Economics, University of York (UK).

Lesego S. Stone

Lesego S. Stone (PhD), is a Senior Research Fellow at the Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, Maun, Botswana. Her research interests are in sustainable tourism development with specific reference to nature-based tourism, protected area tourism and community livelihoods, tourism marketing and ecotourism. She has published in several national, regional and international journals. She is currently a Guest Editor for two special issues for the Journal of Sustainable Tourism and Tourism Review international.

Vincent Pagiwa

Vincent Pagiwa, Msc, (PHM), PhD is a public health research scholar at the University of Botswana (Okavango Research Institute), and previously served as a senior public health consultant, a lecturer, and a clinical nurse. Vincent is experienced in health policy analysis, health systems financing and governance, analyzing financial burdens of communicable and non-communicable diseases in developing countries, disease mapping and stratification and economic evaluation of healthcare programmes