Community-based ecotourism: a collaborative partnerships perspective

Collaboration is a key principle in community-based tourism approaches in most developing countries. This paper assesses how community-based ecotourism is perceived in terms of community participation and empowerment. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and secondary sources. Collaborative partnerships underpinnings are adopted to guide the research. Results suggest that participation in ecotourism brings mixed results on biodiversity conservation and community livelihoods due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders in the design, planning, and implementation of ecotourism projects. Due to the diversity of stakeholders, the empowerment of communities using ecotourism is complex. Nonetheless, while the study may be perceived as having attained mixed results, the case study offers a progressive example of how stakeholders approach to natural resource management are evolving. Ecotourism development in Botswana still needs improvement; more considerations have to be given to in situ settings. The Chobe Enclave Community Trust, a community living adjacent to Chobe National Park in Botswana, provides the context on which this study's discussion focuses.