Community Lodge Officially Opens in Botswana's Okavango Delta

In Botswana, when you think of tourism, the first thing that comes to mind is the Okavango Delta, known worldwide for its beauty, abundant wildlife, mokoro (dugout canoes), and exclusive tourist camps. For many of the visitors to the Okavango, these exclusive and luxurious camps invoke treasured memories.

The latest addition to the lodges of the Okavango Delta is the newly reconstructed Santawani Lodge. Though not new to seasoned travelers to the Okavango, this lodge officially re-opened its doors on June 19, 2004 under community management. The lodge is located near the southern gate of Moremi Game Reserve and about 80 km from Maun. It consists of six newly built private chalets with double beds, a bar, and a reception area. The property is accessible by light aircraft and is 20 minutes by air from Maun.

Several features of the Santawani Lodge make it unique among tourist destinations in the Okavango Delta. Unlike most of the other lodges in the Delta, Santawani is fully owned by local community members through the Sankuyo Tshwaragano Management Trust, a group of 400 households that are mainly livestock keepers. The transfer of the lodge's lease by the Government of Botswana from a private sector company (upon expiry) to the Trust marks as one of the first times a local community organization has benefited directly from tourism in the region. Although tourism is a key sector of the Botswana economy, historically a large percentage of the profits have gone to large and mostly foreign-owned tourism companies.

Another unique characteristic of the lodge is that it is managed entirely by local community members. The lodge employs about 20 community residents and create much-needed income for the community as a whole. The lodge employees have acquired hospitality industry management skills by working for other lodges and camps in the Okavango. Says Mr. William Dikgosana, the lodge's manager, "I have worked for many years for local lodges and know what is expected of us by our clientele. Now that we are working for ourselves, we will make sure that we succeed." Indeed, the community is determined to succeed in this tourism endeavor, despite skepticism in many quarters about Santawan's community management model.

The success of the lodge will provide an opportunity for local people to improve their livelihoods through increased income and services. Proceeds from the lodge will be distributed by the Trust to community priorities such as health and education. In addition, the lodge will serve as an incentive for the communities to invest in the conservation of local wildlife. The lodge's existence and management is tied to the conservation of 8,000 hectares that has been leased to the Trust by the Government of Botswana. The wildlife-rich area is a prime viewing location for elephants, giraffe, buffalo, lions, and leopards.

The lodge has potential to succeed in both conservation and poverty alleviation because, as experience has shown elsewhere in Africa, community enterprises are most successful where the community has organized institutions, local skills and capacity, and low population densities that allow benefits to be realized at the household level.

The Government of Botswana has recently created various policies aimed at increasing local participation and ownership in the tourism industry. In support of these policies, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), an international conservation organization, has supported the Santawani Lodge project through the USAID-funded Four Corners Transboundary Natural Resources Management Project. AWF provided partial funding to refurbish the lodge and has helped train staff and establish marketing efforts for the lodge. According to the AWF's Chief of Party for Four Corners, Henry Mwima, AWF is excited about the confidence of the Botswana government in the community. Mr. Mwima notes that allocating the lodge to the community trust has put natural resource management and poverty alleviation in rural Botswana on a stronger footing.

Though the opening of the lodge is a tremendous success for the Trust, challenges remain. Marketing the lodge will be critical to attracting tourists to this new destination, as many community development projects in Africa fail because of lack of marketing. Though the lodge has established a booking office in Maun, Marketing Manager Dux Mareja notes that more must be done. "We are currently trying to use our location opposite the airport to capture tourists flying in via the Maun airport. This is proving difficult because most of the tourists come with already planned itineraries", he says. Marketing efforts are also targeting the 4x4 market from South Africa into Moremi and Chobe. To expand the marketing reach of the lodge, AWF has partnered with the Regional Tourism Association of Southern Africa (RETOSA), the body charged with marketing destinations in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The lodge has already been showcased by AWF in a number of international travel and tourism shows in the United States of America.

The lodge offers a unique model for other communities in Africa that struggle with poverty, HIV/AIDS, and natural resource management. The success of Santawani Lodge will be crucial for other communities and governments looking for models of ways to achieve similar goals.