Botswana Tourism Board, Botswana

winner, Destination Stewardship Award 2010

The Okavango Delta Ramsar Site (ODRS) is a unique 55,374 km2 water- and game-rich area within Botswana's desert environment. It includes the Tsodilo Hills (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Moremi Game Reserve, Wildlife Management Areas and community lands.

As a developing country, and faced with the challenge of using the ODRS sustainably and equitably, Botswana developed a model incorporating fewer tourists at lower densities and higher tariffs. A legislative framework was put into place to manage this approach and ensure that bed and vehicle densities were set at conservative levels, utilisation was geographically spread, all stakeholders benefited, alternate threats to the area were managed, and accountability of stakeholders was clear.

Tourism is now the second largest contributor to Botswana's GDP and the ODRS is the premier tourist attraction and primary employer in northern Botswana. According to the Okavango Delta Management Plan it is: "A carefully managed, well-functioning ecosystem that equitably and sustainably provides benefits for local, national and international stakeholders."

Judges' Verdict
Botswana's approach to tourism is based on a 'low-volume - high-yield' strategy, which was devised and supported through a series of legislations promulgated by the country's government. The core of this strategy is the setting of conservative limits to bed and vehicle density. This is what now makes the ODRS a unique destination. It comprises 9.5% of Botswana's total land area. Through the management of the Botswana Tourism Board, a unique partnership between state, private sector and rural communities has been established. Some 34% of the adult population in ODRS now work in tourism and wildlife, contributing to the conservation of fragile habitat and a number of IUCN red-listed threatened species (based on the assessment of the International Union for Conservation of Nature), as well as generating income and employment in the region. In 2002 Botswana established a National Ecotourism Strategy which led to the publication of an Ecotourism Best Practice Manual in 2008. Operators and tourism suppliers within the ODRS have taken Botswana's tourism vision to heart and have created world-class facilities allowing for lower-impact and higher-tariff tourism.

''The award means a lot to us in Botswana and is an indication that the world recognises our efforts in preserving our environment and developing the sector for the benefit of communities with high regard for the environment. It also challenges and motivates us to continue to compete on best practices and product offerings globally.''
Myra Sekgororoane, Chief Executive Officer, Botswana Tourism Board