Hospitality industry expects festive business boom

Isaac Pinielo | Friday December 12, 2014 13:05

 

The first day of December is generally considered the kickoff to the season, with hotels offering special deals to draw tourists.

Lily Rakorong, Chief Executive Officer of the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB), said this festive season there would be increased movement of both in-bound and out-bound travellers visiting different places and indulging in a variety of activities. “There is an expectation that the accommodation, attraction and transport sectors are going to do well this festive season. This is a holiday season. People get to travel and visit families and friends,” she said.

Rakorong observed that the Ngamiland and Chobe districts were the preferred destinations of all time. She however noted that an analysis would be conducted after the festive season, to assess which places had benefited the most this season. Destinations such as Maun, Kasane, Okavango Delta, Tswapong and Tsodilo hills, as well as many others destinations, had been identified as places that attracted both domestic and in-bound tourists.

“We anticipate the leisure side of tourism, example, wildlife and wilderness, entertainment, culture and heritage, transport, accommodation sector, and other activities to experience an increase in performance,” she said.

According to Rakorong, one of the reason these places recorded a high number of visits was because most people preferred to holiday in places they had never been to before, and to experience and appreciate the wonders of nature that Botswana possesses.

She added that they still awaited the 2014 statistics report for the hospitality and tourism industry in Botswana.

Rakorong however stated that the sector had performed relatively well, pointing out that this did not mean that there were no challenges. She cited the Ebola outbreak, which she said is having a bearing on arrivals. She further reiterated that different measures had been put in place to control and prevent the Ebola disease from entering the country.

“We have centres around the country, so people coming from Ebola affected countries are subjected to exit screening, passenger tracing form, and quarantine for up to 21 days and/or isolation when necessary to protect citizen from Ebola,” she said.

Rakorong added that travellers from West African countries would be subjected to Ebola screening and passengers’ tracing forms, while those coming from Ebola affected countries would be denied entry into Botswana, to reduce the risk of introducing the disease.

In a recent speech during the Botswana Travel and Tourism Expo (BTTE), Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama indicated that African countries had of late, suffered declining tourism income as many travellers had cancelled their trips to the continent over fears of the Ebola virus.