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Success Factors for Community Business Wildlife Tourism Partnerships in Tanzania

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An Erratum to this article was published on 30 July 2015

Abstract

The number of partnership agreements for development is increasing in Africa, and they have different degrees of success. Which critical success factors play a role for partnerships at the community level in the tourism sector in Tanzania? This article analyses nine tourism business–community agreements including three NGO-initiated agreements, three business-initiated agreements and three government-initiated agreements. The partnerships are addressing local economic development and conservation and are assessed on 12 different criteria for success. We found that business-initiated partnerships are working best in meeting the criteria for success. Trust, commitment and mutual benefits are found to be the most important factors. Technical aspects such as accountability and planning (which are mentioned as being of critical importance for national partnerships) are secondary and of less importance for the success of local partnerships.

Abstract

Le nombre des partenariats en matière de développement est en train d’augmenter en Afrique; cependant ils ont différents dégrées de succès. Quels Facteurs Critiques de Succès (en anglais: CSFs) sont importants pour les partenariats au niveau des communautés dans le secteur du tourisme en Tanzanie? Cet étude analyse neuf accords entre des entreprises touristiques et des communautés, y inclus trois accords initiés par des ONG; trois accords initiés par des entreprises, et trois accords initiés par le gouvernement. Les partenariats abordent le développement économique et la préservation au niveau locale, et sont évalues en base à 12 critères de succès. On trouve que les partenariats initiés par des entreprises mieux réalisent les critères de succès. Les facteurs les plus importants sont la confiance, l’engagement, et les avantages mutuels. Les aspects techniques (tels que la responsabilité et la planification, qui sont critiques pour les partenariats au niveau nationale) sont secondaires pour le succès des partenariats au niveau locale.

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Notes

  1. See www.maasaierc.org/loliondo/background.html, accessed 24 June 2012.

  2. Personal communication with Chairman of Tato, 24 June 2012.

  3. See data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD, accessed 24 June 2014.

  4. See data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators, accessed 9 July 2012.Tanzania had a GDP per capita of 529 USD per year in 2011.

  5. See, for example, www.tripadvisor.com, accessed 9 July 2012.

  6. See www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/06/six_arrested_for_murdering_dut.php, accessed 4 July 2012.

  7. See www.nu.nl/buitenland/2841861, accessed 24 June, 2012.

  8. See allafrica.com/stories.201103280682, accessed 2 April, 2012.

  9. See www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2012/world-population-data-sheet/data-sheet.aspx, accessed 10 August 2012.

  10. See www.worldbank.org/en/country/tanzania/overview, accessed 3 August 2012.

  11. The gini index in Tanzania has been increasing over the years; see www.indexmundi.com/tanzania/distribution_of_family_income_gini_index.html, accessed 6 August 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maastricht school of Management, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Diederik de Boer & Meine Pieter van Dijk

  2. International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Den Haag, The Netherlands

    Meine Pieter van Dijk

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  1. Diederik de Boer
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  2. Meine Pieter van Dijk
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Correspondence to Diederik de Boer.

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An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2015.56.

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de Boer, D., van Dijk, M. Success Factors for Community Business Wildlife Tourism Partnerships in Tanzania. Eur J Dev Res 28, 555–570 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2015.23

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