Do Tar Roads Bring Tourism? Growth Corridor Policy and Tourism Development in the Zambezi region, Namibia

Abstract

There are high aspirations to foster growth in Namibia’s Zambezi region via the development of tourism. The Zambezi region is a core element of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), a mosaic of areas with varying degrees of protection, which is designed to combine nature conservation and rural development. These conservation areas serve as a resource base for wildlife tourism, and growth corridor policy aims to integrate the region into tourism global production networks (GPNs) by means of infrastructure development. Despite the increasing popularity of growth corridors, little is known about the effectiveness of this development strategy at local level. The mixed-methods approach suggests a link between a tandem of infrastructure development and tourism-oriented policies on the one hand, and increased value creation from tourism in the region on the other hand. Yet, the promises of tourism-driven development reach only a very limited number of rural residents.

The coupling coordination between rural public services and rural tourism and its causative factors: The case study of southwestern China

“…Therefore, infrastructure is an important determinant of a destination’s attractiveness and can impact its tourist development [ 19 ]. It can also effectively enhance value creation from tourism in the region [ 20 ]. Besides, good local basic education provides knowledge and support for rural tourism.…”

Rural Aspirations: Reflections for Development Planning, Design and Localized Effects

“…Across the contributions of this Special Issue and their various methodological and disciplinary entry points, all levels of this interplay between local individual aspirations (Mausch et al 2021;Tabe-Ojong et al 2021;Nandi and Nedumaran 2021;Aring et al 2021;La Rue et al 2021 andCrossland et al 2021) and political aspirations (Matejcek and Verne 2021;Müller-Mahn et al 2021;Kalvelage et al 2021;Greiner et al 2021;Höllermann et al 2021;Chamberlin et al 2021) are investigated with a recognition of the influence of considerations at the other end of the spectrum (see Fig. 1).…”

“…A similar approach to broadening the opportunity spaces of rural people is investigated by Kalvelage et al (2021) who analyse how community-based resource management (CBRM) schemes under the recently created Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) impacts local livelihoods. CBRM is designed to combine nature conservation and rural development, with conservation areas serving as a resource base for wildlife tourism.…”

“…Connecting to Kalvelage et al (2021) and their critical investigation of tourism-based development, Matejcek and Verne (2021) shed light on the potential downsides of these top-down development approaches through their focus on human-wildlife conflicts. Matejeck and Verne (2021) focus on the localized effects of the aspirations of globalized development actors for nature conservation and the societal values these bring about.…”