Khama told Mmegi Business that some tourism concessions in the delta will in future be sub-divided to make more room for citizens willing to participate in the tourism sector in the area. According to Khama, some concessions whose leases expired will be assessed if they could be sub-divided and be leased to Batswana tourism companies. He said government is concerned about low numbers of Batswana participating in tourism in the UNESCO world heritage site.
Joseph Mbaiwa of University of Botswana’s Okavango Research Institute had conducted a study that looked into ownership figures in the delta. The shocking results indicated that 81.5% of the tourist facilities in Maun and in the Okavango Delta have foreign influence in which 53.8% are 100% foreign-owned. Further it revealed that locals are economically and politically marginalised and have no control over natural resource management and conservation. However, Khama said government is serious about reversing the tables through creation of other tourism niches within the delta for participation by Batswana. He said there are similar moves in Maun, Gaborone, Francistown and adventure tourism events taking place in places such as Khawa and Makgadikgadi.
