TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES: THE DIRECT BENEFITS OF TOURISM TO OVAHIMBA COMMUNITIES IN THE KAOKOLAND, NORTHWEST NAMIBIA

The tourism industry has the potential to provide major benefits to destinations. In Namibia tourism is seen as a good strategy for development, but tourism-based growth does not automatically lead to a socioeconomic development in peripheral communities. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the quantity of local-level benefits from tourism in peripheral community contexts and discuss the possibilities of local communities to participate, control, and guide tourism-based growth and development. The empirical case involves two OvaHimba communities located in Kaokoland, Northwest Namibia. The selected communities value tourism but, in a monetary value, the direct benefits of tourism are still rather modest and there is a need to develop a more transparent benefit-sharing model for tourism businesses operating and collaborating directly with the OvaHimba communities in Kaokoland.