REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: INSIGHTS FROM THE KAZA TRANSFRONTIER CONSERVATION AREA
Résumé
Governance is recognised as crucial for supporting transfrontier conservation and regional cooperation; however, how governance processes translate into regional destination development outcomes across the different scales of the TFCA grounds the premise of this research. Attention is drawn to the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) in Southern Africa, which, although formally institutionalised in 2011, has been under development since 2006, thereby providing an opportunity to examine the progress of tourism development in the region since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This research aimed to explore the progress of tourism and community development as shaped by governance and stakeholder processes. This qualitative research draws on insights from interviews with tourism and governing authorities, community organisations, and community representatives located in tourism-dependent destinations in the TFCA, namely Kasane in Botswana, Livingstone in Zambia, and Hwange in Zimbabwe. The findings demonstrate that the KAZA TFCA has created an enabling environment for regional tourism development through improved cross-border mobility, regional cooperation, destination marketing, and tourism-supporting infrastructure. However, the translation of regional integration into local tourism development remains constrained by policy inconsistencies across member states, limited tourism-specific support, weak integration between regional governance structures and local tourism stakeholders, and challenges affecting tourism businesses. Overall, the findings suggest that the effectiveness of Transfrontier tourism governance depends not only on establishing regional agreements and structures, but also on their effective coordination, harmonisation, and implementation across national and local levels to ensure that regional tourism growth generates inclusive and equitable socioeconomic benefits.
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