An assessment of the sustainability of Community Tourism Entrepreneurship: Case of three Southern African Countries

Abstract

Tourism is highly characterized by dynamic human needs that entrepreneurs desire to satisfy. Tourism is growing popular in both developed and developing countries, where in most developing countries it is seen as a source for diversification of economies. However, the main concern of tourism entrepreneurship is its sustainability amidst the population pressure and environmental factors. Tourism cuts across all Sustainable Development Goals, however it has been included as targets of Goals, 8, 12 and 17 on ‘inclusive and sustainable economic growth’, ‘sustainable consumption and production’ and ‘partnerships for the goals’, respectively. The theories guiding this study are Community Based Natural Resource Management and Sustainability which are centered on participation, stewardship, and management of natural resources. The sustainability of community-based tourism enterprises is assessed based on three factors: the policy or legislative environment, community’s accessibility to resources and training or capacity needs of the communities in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. The study is based on a systematic review of literature on community tourism enterprises in these countries. The review identified some cases of success in the three countries but also identified several internal and external factors hindering community entrepreneurship such as lack of managerial and marketing skills, funding challenges, short lease agreements and inadequate policies.