Tourists’ perceptions and consumer surplus at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Okavango Delta, Botswana: Implications for rural development

ABSTRACT

The capturing of full benefits associated with nature-based tourism could be one of the strategies for the promotion of sustainable tourism in the Okavango Delta (OD). The general objective of this paper is to establish the perceptions of tourists in relation to consumer surplus (CS) of tourist visitation to the OD and implications on rural development. The study shows that there is substantial CS of tourist visitation in the OD. A significant proportion of tourists (53%) said that they were willing to contribute to a fund for the compensation of farmers for their loss of property resulting from their conflict with wildlife. Most tourists (90%) thought tourism should contribute to the development of local communities. They suggested that the captured CS could be used for rural development and wildlife conservation. The study recommends that the CS could be captured in the OD as entry and conservation fees.

KEYWORDS:

• Consumer surplus
• tourism
• Okavango Delta
• tourists' perceptions

Acknowledgement

We sincerely acknowledge the great assistance offered by Masego Dhliwayo, Senior Technician of GIS Laboratory of the Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, in the production of maps and graphics for this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Mokoro is a wooden or fibreglass canoe that is used by locals for transportation or tourism excursions. It is a Tswana name.

2 BWP 1 = US$0.11.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), under grant Commission Number (FKZ) 01 LL091 2A, through the Future Okavango Project, Subproject 08, Ecological and Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services (2011-2014).

Notes on contributors

Dimpho M. Matlhola

Dimpho Malebogo Matlhola, MPhil, is a Research Scholar at the Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, and currently she is a doctoral student at East China Normal University. Her research interests are in sustainability of natural resources, telecoupling, international trade, sustainable tourism and ecosystem services.

Donald L. Kgathi

Donald Letsholo Kgathi, PhD, is a Professor of Economics of Sustainable Development at the Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana. His research interests are in ecosystem services, sustainable tourism development, economic valuation, rural livelihoods, sustainability of biofuels and adaptation to climate change.

Gagoitseope Mmopelwa

Gagoitseope Mmopelwa, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Environment and Development at the Department of Environmental Science, University of Botswana. His research interests include sustainable tourism, economic valuation, livelihood systems and adaptation to climate change.