Private Sector Tourism in Conservation Areas in Africa

Susan Snyman, Anna Spenceley

• Publisher: CAB International
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781786393555
• eBook ISBN: 9781786393579
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Hostelería, viajes y turismo

"Using a rich set of detailed case studies, this volume furnishes the first comprehensive analysis of the role of the private sector in conservation areas. For researchers of tourism, development studies and biodiversity conservation this book is a new and important benchmark in African scholarship." -Christian M. Rogerson, Research Professor, School of Tourism & Hospitality, University of Johannesburg."This is an impressive book that will make an important contribution to the literature on private-sector involvement in the delivery of tourism services in parks and protected areas in Africa." - Dr. Paul F. J. Eagles, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo.Tourism in Africa's protected and conserved areas involves partnerships and interactions between numerous stakeholders such as governments, communities, NGOs, the private sector and academics. Through the use of 32 comprehensive case studies from 11 African countries, this book presents guidelines to ensure optimal benefits for stakeholders as well as promoting the sustainability of tourism in Africa. It includes descriptions of the various models for the private sector to engage in tourism in conservation areas in Africa, such as pure private sector ownership, joint ventures, tripartite agreements and government leases. End-to-end coverage of the processes used to develop these partnerships is provided, as well as best practices for the private sector engaging in tourism. The book provides guidance on identifying the most suitable private sector tourism options based on guidelines of conditions and desired outcomes, to promote the long-term sustainability of African tourism in protected areas. Key features include: - The first book to provide a detailed analysis of private sector involvement and partnerships in tourism in Africa.- Includes best practice examples to develop tourism partnerships with the private sector.- Highlights important tools to enhance the sustainability of tourism in Africa, involving numerous stakeholders.This book is recommended for academics, students and practitioners working in sustainable tourism, including community, private sector and government stakeholders.

1
Introduction

Tourism is seen as a powerful vehicle for economic growth and development, as well as for job creation, all over the world. It generally has low barriers to entry, a seasonal flow of visitors, a simple product and consumption at the point of production – therefore, it has significant potential as a poverty alleviation tool (Twining-Ward, 2009; United Nations, 2017). The World Bank Group (2017) states that sustainable tourism is in fact a proven tool for development, benefiting communities in destinations around the world as it is highly labour intensive, facilitates the development of new infrastructure, helps fund conservation, revitalises modern and historic cities and can contribute to international understanding. Eagles, McCool and Haynes (2002), Leung, Spenceley, Hvengaard and Buckley (2018) and Spenceley, Kohl, McArthur, Myles, Notarianni, Paleczny, Pickering and Worboys (2015) have all shown the important role that sustainable tourism can play in conservation areas. Tourism is, however, not a panacea for reducing poverty and/or for socioeconomic development. The introduction, implementation and management of tourism requires constant monitoring, management and refinement to ensure long-term, sustainable benefits for all stakeholders, as well as positive social, environmental and economic impacts. When tourism is poorly planned, it can negatively impact on parks, cities and historic or cultural monuments and can put severe pressure on local infrastructure, biodiversity conservation, resident communities and their resources (World Bank Group, 2017).

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has been addressing the area of biodiversity and tourism development since 2004, including the adoption of Guidelines on Biodiversity and Tourism Development and the production of two guideline user manuals: ‘Managing tourism and biodiversity’ (CBD, 2007), and ‘Tourism supporting biodiversity’ (CBD, 2015). Work presented to the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in 2012 concluded that the tourism sector is the largest global, market-based contributor to financing protected area (PA) systems in many countries, through entrance and other user fees, partnerships and concessions (Spenceley, Snyman and Eagles, 2017a). However, many parties to the CBD under-use tourism as a means to contribute towards the financial sustainability of PAs.

According to the World Bank (Christie, Fernandes, Messerli and Twining-Ward, 2014: 24), there are 10 main reasons to specifically develop tourism in Africa:

1. To spur economic development as tourism has demonstrated its economic strength and potential all over the world.

2. To create good jobs as tourism is a more efficient job creator than many other sectors due to the multiple downstream effects.

3. To build remote and developing regions as tourism is growing faster in the world’s emerging and developing regions than in the rest of the world.

4. To accelerate reform as tourism has been shown to accelerate policy and economic reforms as political stability, good governance and an enabling business environment provide a good foundation for tourism growth (UNCTAD, 2007).

5. To improve infrastructure in order to attract tourists – these improvements often have positive impacts on the overall economy as well as local populations.

6. To increase domestic consumption and to diversify exports. Tourists’ demand for goods and services (such as fuel, communication and retail) creates induced supply chain benefits.

7. To empower women, young people and marginalised populations because tourism is, globally, one of the few economic sectors in which women outnumber men in certain positions and are paid the same.

8. To preserve cultural heritage and to conserve the environment as tourism provides a source of revenue for its protection.

9. To promote public–private partnerships as effective tourism planning requires collaboration and partnerships between the public and private sectors.

10. To improve the national image, because successful tourism can change external perceptions of a country, improve intercultural understanding and create a positive frame of reference for a country.

It is argued in this volume that the private sector has the potential to provide financial sustainability to protected/conservation areas as an alternative to government allocations for financing conservation efforts, particularly in developing countries. A recent paper by Rylance, Snyman and Spenceley (2017) looked at the potential for tourism to fund PAs and found that although tourism is a significant revenue source for PA authorities in southern Africa, how it is retained and reinvested back into conservation management remains ambiguous. The lack of consistency of data related to tourism revenues provided to conservation areas in Africa makes it difficult to measure the real impact of tourism on conservation and the associated PAs and also does not allow for comparisons across the continent (Eagles et al., 2002; Leung et al., 2018; Rylance et al., 2017; Spenceley et al., 2015; Spenceley, Rylance & Laiser, 2017). The importance of sustaining tourism revenue for an individual conservation area and to a PA authority ideally will be to help underpin quality customer service, and safe and clean destinations (Spenceley et al., 2015). Protected area managers need to be sensitive to business needs – for example, the timing of management operations such as burning, pest animal control, weed control and maintenance tasks can be scheduled to avoid negative experiences for visitors, which may therefore impact on financial returns (Spenceley et al., 2015). Government and the private sector need to work together to optimise the benefits from tourism for conservation.

PAs, in all forms, whether formal or informal, are one way of conserving biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being, and are now recognised as an integral part of sustainable development strategies (Rylance et al., 2017). Over the past four decades there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of PAs and with upcoming targets for all parties to the CBD needing to be met, there is likely to be even more of an increase in the near future. As the number of PAs increases, the amount of funding available to manage them has, however, remained generally stagnant (Emerton, Bishop & Thomas, 2006), and insufficient to ensure effective achievement of conservation and livelihood goals (Bovarnick, Alpizar & Schnell, 2010; Watson, Dudley, Segan & Hockings, 2014). PA financing shortfalls are most intense in developing countries and current financial needs for PAs in developing countries are thought to range between USD 1.1 billion to cover core operations and USD 2.5 billion to cover the very basic range of actions necessary to ensure that management is effective (Eagles & Hillel, 2008; Emerton et al., 2006).

Traditionally, PAs were funded by public money from government. Increasingly, PA authorities do not have sufficient funds and most governments do not fund PAs fully (Adams & Infield, 2003; Buckley, 2003; Eagles, Baycetich, Chen, Dong, Halpenny, Kwan, Lenuzzi, Wang, Xiao & Zhang, 2009; Mitchell, Wooliscroft & Higham, 2013; Saayman & Saayman, 2006 in Whitelaw, King & Tolkach, 2014). However, investment in PAs and other conservation areas should be considered an investment in local economic development and in improving the quality of life of people who live in and around these areas (Rylance et al., 2017). Low levels of funding to PA authorities is one of the most important threats to biodiversity conservation in Africa (de la Harpe, Fernhead, Hughes, Davies, Spenceley, Barnes, Cooper & Child, 2004). If PAs are unable to meet their ecological goals, as a result of underfunding, then it is likely that they will be unable to meet their social goals (de la Harpe et al., 2004). The maintenance and expansion of PAs in Africa will require a fresh approach to fundraising and new systems for achieving financial sustainability if we are to ensure the conservation of species in the long run (Rylance et al., 2017) (see Bakarr and Lockwood, 2006: 218 for a list of management principles for the establishment of PAs). According to Eagles and Hillel (2008), tourism financial flows have the potential to make much larger contributions to the management of the world’s conservation estate than they currently do: this can, in part, be achieved through greater private sector investment in tourism.

Over the years, it has been shown that private sector tourism in remote, rural areas of Africa can promote local socioeconomic development (Buckley, 2010; Lapeyre, 2010; Mbaiwa & Stronza, 2010; Novelli & Scarth, 2007; Snyman, 2012a, 2012b, 2013, 2014; Spenceley, 2008). Benefits can be enhanced when accompanied by other measures such as upliftment, empowerment and education projects. It was also observed by Snyman (2012a, 2012b, 2013, 2014) and earlier noted by Adams and Infield (2003) that income generated from tourism can lead to a dynamic of competition of its own, as different stakeholders attempt to dominate access to the available revenue streams. The private sector operator wants to maximise profits, as would the community and any related government departments; ‘best practice’ involves maximising the benefits of all involved (including economic, environmental and social benefits), or at least satisfying their needs (Snyman, 2013).

If the aim of tourism is simple profit maximisation, then the best way is via the private sector, but if the aim is to maximise local benefits, then joint ventures (JVs) or community-based tourism (CBT) may be optimal (Spenceley, 2008; Spenceley, Rylance, Nanabhay & van der Watt, 2016). Equity mechanisms help ensure that financial benefits for responsible land custodianship are possible and can, if managed correctly, have a significant impact on rural households’ social welfare in the form of community development such as health or education infrastructure, as well as poverty reduction impacts through collective revenues, and direct and indirect employment. The chosen equity or partnership arrangement will depend on the community, the private sector tourism operator, government institutions, land rights, tenure and the security of this tenure, natural resources as well as the policies, legislation and institutions in place. Land tenure rights vary from one African country to the next and are a major factor impacting on the level/degree of private sector investment that will occur. The tourism model or partnership (discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 in this volume) chosen by the private sector also depends on factors such as: the ease of access; lev...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Authors
• List of Boxes
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgements
• List of acronyms
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Background
• 3. Private sector partnership options
• 4. Joint venture lodge ownership partnership options
• 5. Processes to develop accommodation partnerships in protected areas
• 6. Best Practices: Lessons learned from the case studies
• 7. Conclusion
• 8. Supplementary material
• Photo credits
• Index
• Back Cover