Govt to grow citizens participation in tourism

Boniface Keakabetse | Wednesday June 15, 2016 16:19

Khama told Mmegi Business that some tourism concessions in the delta will in future be sub-divided to make more room for citizens willing to participate in the tourism sector in the area. According to Khama, some concessions whose leases expired will be assessed if they could be sub-divided and be leased to Batswana tourism companies. He said government is concerned about low numbers of Batswana participating in tourism in the UNESCO world heritage site. 

Joseph Mbaiwa of University of Botswana’s Okavango Research Institute had conducted a study that looked into ownership figures in the delta. The shocking results indicated that 81.5% of the tourist facilities in Maun and in the Okavango Delta have foreign influence in which 53.8% are 100% foreign-owned. Further it revealed that locals are economically and politically marginalised and have no control over natural resource management and conservation. However, Khama said government is serious about reversing the tables through creation of other tourism niches within the delta for participation by Batswana. He said there are similar moves in Maun, Gaborone, Francistown and adventure tourism events taking place in places such as Khawa and Makgadikgadi.

“Lack of investment capital is one of the reasons explaining why Batswana’s participation is low in the Okavango Delta. However, foreign companies should also be applauded for building the tourism sector in the Okavango and they will continue to be allowed to do business in the area,” Khama said.

He said another issue worrying his ministry is that many Batswana cannot afford travelling to the Okavango Delta as the destination is pricey and can only be afforded by international tourists.

The minister said to resolve this they are engaging in the diversification of the tourism product by introducing lesser expensive facilities in the delta area, which could be afforded by Batswana. The minister reasoned that peripheral areas within the Okavango Delta management site such as Shorobe have potential for setting up of cheaper community-based tourism facilities. He also stated that the development of heritage tourism for communities living within the delta will in future be developed and packaged to diversify the Okavango Delta product. He said more affordable facilities will promote the teething domestic tourism in the delta. On other issues, Khama revealed that his ministry had requested the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs to introduce the Electronic Travel Authorisation (e-visa), which will allow visitors to apply for Botswana tourism visa online. “This will make travelling to Botswana easy as tourists will be saved the inconvenience of having to travel to embassies to get our visa,” Khama said.

With regard to the national carrier, Air Botswana, Khama expressed concern about the old fleet saying they are bad for tourism in the busy Maun-Johannesburg route. Khama said they have engaged with the airline that it needs to buy new aeroplanes.