C HALLENGES , POTENTIALS AND PROSPECTS

Salambala faces challenges regarding the practicalities of community-based tourism.

What are these challenges, what approach should we follow to solve them, and how do we know we have solved the real issue? From the accessibility point of view, this

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communal Conservancy is remote but reachable. Like other rural communities, Salambala also often lacks sufficient funds for the high-quality infrastructure demanded by some ‘luxury-addicted tourists’. Needless to say, depending on the type of tourists, accommodation does not have to be luxurious. In fact, most ecotourists are more likely going to appreciate native cultural accommodation.

For the local people and those of neighbouring Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana and motoring tourists the Conservancy is easily reachable via the Ngoma road. Ideally, the management of the Conservancy should focus on the local market in terms of the promotion of the area. In a traditional sense, game viewing will also be a challenge.

Some areas are not suitable for game viewing (e.g. Mutikitila, Ioma, Ikumwe, and Isuswa) and they will require strategies and innovative solutions to be useful. The best places are those situated at or nearby water holes. Thus, proximity to a water hole and time of the animals’ visit to it play a role in attracting tourists. Usually most animals drink water during noon or sundown, largely because that is when human activity is less.

Another major problem is the fact that tourism cannot influence its own destiny without effects from politics. Tourism is very vulnerable to political decisions and events.

Actions and decisions such as the 2 August 1999 Secession Attack, Namibia’s decision to allow Angolan forces to operate and launch attacks on the UNITA rebel movement from Namibian soil and the Zimbabwean political and economic upheavals have hindered Caprivi’s tourism industry to develop. Perhaps it is time to reduce the dependence on international tourism and focus on the local markets. Even the traditionally strong tourism areas have suffered a major blow. According to the figures received from the regional MET office, both Mudumu and Mamili National Parks have recorded the lowest visitor figures in a decade, i.e. from 4000 tourists per annum in 1998/9 to less than 150 in the year 2000. A check of the guest book indicated that Salambala has also been hit with numbers falling down to 37 in 2000. In spite of the difficulties, CBT in the CAMPFIRE programme has in practice been operational through alternative arrangements with the private sector. If at all possible, alternative arrangements may be required to a greater degree in Salambala.

The development of tourist facilities in communal areas is also being constrained by the lack of secure land tenure, and the prohibitive cost of building basic infrastructure for

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tourism purposes. Such infrastructure may include roads, accommodation and telecommunication facilities. Under traditional land-use law, it is practically impossible to lease land. In large communities it may also be difficult to agree on how the revenue would be used. One way is to have the villagers themselves hosting tourists so that the households can earn income. When communities host the tourists, it is reported by CAMPFIRE that they are responsible for the entire tourism process, from marketing through to hosting tourists in their own villages. During that time, visitors’ camp or stay in the traditional round mud huts and can make arrangements to share traditional meals with the local people (CAMPFIRE Internet page, Fact Sheet No.8 on the case of Sunungukai Camp in Zimbabwe).

It is very unlikely that the communities could utilise the Internet to advertise their services or drop leaflets at airports. They have no access to such things and cannot afford them. No such thing was reported in Salambala, and even though it could be done the major constraints are that the area is still largely unknown, Internet facilities are neither available nor affordable and there are no people to do the work. In Finland, government authorities are concerned about rural tourism enterprises and are seeking ways and means to boost the tourism sector by having effective co-operation with all stakeholders (Häyhä 2001). In Salambala, when it comes to trophy hunting the quota system has been adopted through a consensus between the government and the Conservancy. The government, however, does reserve the right to control the quotas if it is of the opinion that the number proposed by the Conservancy management is not realistic. Based on the basic principle of sustainability and the need to stay within the carrying capacity, we help the local community with the interpretation of law and we try and ensure they use natural resources wisely, a wildlife official said.

Nonetheless, with revenues from trophy hunting, community development projects such as clinics, information centres, grain mills and schools can be prioritised.In Zambia for instance, under the Administrative Management Design Programme (ADMADE), the local community has used the revenues derived from wildlife management for their rural development projects. What is advocated in this thesis is a real-life situation where tourists come and live or are hosted in a household, do the activities that the local people do, eat the food they eat and if desired partake in any ongoing cultural activity. Such tourism is not only authentic and exotic but it also frees both the villagers and the

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tourists from false and misleading lifestyles. Culture, traditions and customs in Salambala are also potential tourism products whose value cannot be priced.

Nevertheless, they provide an educational resource base for interested tourists.