Hospitality business thrives in Letlhakane
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Wednesday May 17, 2017 11:00
Apart from having four diamond mines within a 15-20km radius, Letlhakane is along the gateway to main tourist destinations in the central and northwest districts.
The booming accommodation business came to light during a recent media tour of SMEs that are assisted by the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA).
The tour was intended to create a platform for the media to interact with LEA clients in Letlhakane, Serowe and Palapye as well as to appreciate the impact of the Authority’s interventions.
During the tour one of LEA’s clients, The Curve Guest House owner, Tlhomamiso Mogaetsho said she started operating her business in 2014, which she self-sponsored with over P1.5 million.
She further said her business targets tourists, who use Letlhakane as a gateway to different tourist destinations.
“I ventured into the tourism and hospitality industry due to the access to the market of entrepreneurial tourism and shortage of accommodation encountered by vacationers, who often visit our area,” she said.
She added that after she realised the niche in the local market she started saving P20,000 per month through Metshelo schemes in order to reach her P1.5 million budget.
Mogaetsho also built six self-catering apartments as part of the guesthouse and another three in different locations, which are used to accommodate long-term visitors.
The former catering manager at Orapa Debswana Mine said they often have travellers who stay for more than a year in their apartments.
Mogaetsho said due to high demand in the market she is building an additional six self-catering apartments in a different plot attached to the guesthouse and the project will be funded by First National Bank for P1.5 million.
The entrepreneur said repayment of the loan is P30,000 per month with her monthly net income standing at around P260,000 in 30 days.
She revealed that through the hospitality business she managed to hire over 17 employees and still has to increase them with more than five individuals to meet customer requirements.
Mogaetsho said some of the challenges they currently face include shortage of water, which becomes costly when they purchase the necessity.
She added that they sometimes use generators due to electrical problems encountered by the place and their drains are always full because there is no main connection of the sewage system.
The businesswoman said that such challenges become a stumbling block in the development of her business.
Another entrepreneur in the tourism and hospitality business, the owner of Lalla Villa guest house, which is still under construction, Gladys Mothei said they ventured into the lucrative business so that they could diversify the economy of Letlhakane.
Mothei said the P2.2 million-mega project is expected to generate jobs and boost the tourism industry.
Lalla Villa was partly funded by Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) for P1.4 million and self-sponsored with P1.8 million.
Mothei said the guest house is expected to hire 15 people including the manager, receptionist and three housekeepers.
“We are going to hire highly skilled individuals with relevant tourism and hospitality interpersonal skills,” she said.
She also said due to shortage of accommodation for visitors in the area, the business is expected to bring in more profit than loss.
Mothei expressed gratitude to LEA who helped them with conceptualising the business idea into a fully fledge enterprise.
Construction of Lalla Villa began last November and is expected to end in July.