Community Perceptions on the Socio-economic Impacts of Wildlife Tourism from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in Botswana: The Case of Tsabong

Abstract

The overall purpose of the current study was to investigate the socio-economic contributions made by wildlife tourism in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park to a community living adjacent to the Park. Following a mixed methods approach, the study used Tsabong, a community in Botswana, as the case study area. Interviews were conducted with key tourism stakeholders and semi-structured questionnaires were distributed to the residents involved. The study found that (i) wildlife tourism has contributed to employment creation and economic development in Tsabong, (ii) wildlife tourism has increased the community’s sense of pride in their culture and preservation of local culture because of wildlife tourism, however, also revealed that (iii) local community participation in wildlife tourism and conservation projects of the KTP is generally low and (iv) positive economic benefits of wildlife tourism are not seen by the entire community. The main recommendations of the study centre on facilitating community participation in the collaborative management of the Park.