Gaborone — Community representatives need to be fully consulted on the new Tourism Development Fund if its aim to help "indigenous Batswana" is ever to bear fruit, warned participants at a meeting in Maun recently. The two-day meeting was convened to discuss whether a tourism fund is needed and what form it will take.

But according to participants, only one community representative was present. District Commissioner Michael Maforaga commented on the absence of community leaders by saying decisions shouldn't be made without full consultation.

He said the only way to reach the average Motswana is through the kgotla. The official response was that this would be done if there are enough funds and enough time available. But some observers suggested privately that the money used to host the workshop reception and to take government officials on a trip in the delta could have been used to set up kgotla meetings. Last month, Scott Wilson Kilpatrick and Partners Botswana were awarded the tender to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a tourism fund.

The fund would provide financial and technical assistance to Batswana who want to venture into the tourism sector. According to the study's terms of reference, countries worldwide are increasingly recognizing the fundamental importance of tourism because of its potential to stimulate other sectors of the economy and its ability to create jobs. The World Tourism Organization has forecast that tourism in the African region will grow at an average annual rate of 5.5 percent. Southern Africa, which includes Botswana, is expected to grow at an annual average of 7.3 percent between 1996 and 2020, thus making it the continent's fastest growing sub-region. The Botswana government's concern is that this growth should benefit as many citizens as possible, including local communities which live close to major tourist attractions.

The study's terms of reference emphasize the need to "facilitate the meaningful participation of indigenous citizens in the tourism sector from which they presently get minimal benefits because it is dominated by foreign investors or members of the settler citizens". The private sector is said to be pleased with the idea of a tourism fund and the Hotel and Tourism Association of Botswana has been pushing for its inception for some time. It is not yet clear who will finance the fund, although it may be a combination of government and the private sector. The feasibility study is to be completed within the next five months and the final report will be presented to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

An issues and options report will be submitted to the Reference Group, chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Conservation NGOs here have welcomed the government's proposed Tourism Development Fund, but are disappointed that such groups will not be eligible to apply to the fund themselves. "The fund is to the disadvantage of NGOs trying to promote community development and tourism activities because it is not accessible to us," says Sehenyi Tlotlego, secretary of Okavango Peoples' Wildlife Trust (OPWT).

"It is good for the private sector and it is good for the government but not for NGOs who would like to use the fund to help community tourism". OPWT's patron is Vice President Lieutenant General Ian Khama and its president is Batawana Paramount Chief Kgosi Tawana II. Tlotlego agrees that many NGOs are dominated by expatriates and receive funding from corporations and overseas donors, but he says some criteria could be drawn up to select deserving NGOs. According to the terms of reference for the fund's feasibility study, the consultants are to hold discussions with NGOs "with a view to determining the cause for poor participation of Batswana in tourism projects".

The terms of reference make no mention of the media, however, which could play a major role in educating people on the fund. The private media was apparently not invited to the Maun meeting, and a questionnaire sent to the Department of Tourism has not yet been acknowledged.

The government media was invited once the meeting had already started.