Tourism development strategies in Namibia: private and community perceptions on the national policy.

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter discusses opportunities and challenges for implementing a national tourism policy in Namibia and, therefore, analyses the role of tourism in Namibia's post-apartheid transformation process. This will be done by reviewing the perceptions of private- and community-based tourism entrepreneurs of the major development objectives of the Namibian tourism policy. These are: (i) economic growth; (ii) employment creation; (iii) poverty reduction; (iv) black economic empowerment; (v) environmental and ecological sustainability; and (vi) reduction of regional development inequities. The research draws from three interdisciplinary fields, i.e. development studies, tourism studies and public policy research. The field research was carried out from December 2006 to February 2007 and from June to August 2008. Semi-structured interviews and field observation were carried out in three private trophy hunting farms, four private tourist lodges and four community-based tourism enterprises. The six tourism policy objectives were discussed with a total of 30 interviewees, and informal discussions were carried out with a further 52 individuals. The findings indicate that there are many challenges for policy implementation, which is already an inherently complicated process.