Tourism land bank�s first facility nears completion

Boniface Keakabetse | Friday November 25, 2016 15:55

The Tourism Land Bank was set up by government to facilitate the development of the tourism sector through maintaining of an adequate and constant supply of land for tourism activities.

To set up the bank, chunks of tourism sites have been identified, some of which were previously used for hunting safaris in tribal areas and administered by land boards. Machaba Safaris won the tender from BTO to build a lodge in the Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust concession area.  Machaba chief executive officer, Chris Kruger said construction of Gomoti lodge started last month and will finish by February next year. The camp is called Gomoti Plains Camp and it is situated on the edge of the Gomoti river system. The lodge will have 10 rooms, including two luxury family tents and eight luxury double tents. The lodge is expected to open for business in March next year just before the commencement of the peak tourism season. Kruger further said they are in the process of looking at developing another camp in the Chobe area. BTO is involved in the initiative by working with ministries responible for lands and tourism to make the land available. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama recently revealed in an interview that he would setup a unit in his ministry that will be responsible for the coordination of the bank. Meanwhile in Khwai area, Kgori Safaris has taken over the operation of Tsaro Lodge in the Okavango Delta under the land bank. Kgori Safaris managing director, Jim van Rensburg told BusinessWeek that after winning a tender for the lodge they would build a four-star facility with 12 rooms. He explained that the construction of the lodge is expected to commence next year after the finalisation of the Environmental Management Plan.

The lodge is located on a plot abutting the northern boundary of the wildlife rich Moremi game reserve and was previously owned by Khwai Development Trust under the Community Based Natural Resources Management programme (CBNRM). “We had hoped to have commenced construction by now but we have been delayed as we are still awaiting response from the Department of Environmental Affairs on our submitted EMP.” van Rensburg said there are existing structures, which consists of 16 rooms and eight chalets will be transformed into staff quarters. He promised that the lodge will generate employment for the Khwai community.