HATAB told: Sovereignty should not be a barrier

BONIFACE KEAKABETSE
Correspondent | Wednesday December 1, 2010 00:00

Naobeb was the guest speaker at the Hotel and Tourism a of Botswana's (HATAB) annual general meeting in Maun last weekend.

Unequal development within the region and pursuit of local agendas by SADC governments still remains a challenge that can affect regional cooperation in tourism, Naobeb noted. But SADC governments must create and lead barrier-free tourism zones if the development of Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) is to be realised. Naobeb said although infrastructural projects like interconnecting roads and bridges, the building of lodges and the opening of border posts to facilitate the movement of tourists throughout the region was a positive step, comprehensive joint regional tourism development plans that included a thorough analysis of the state of complementation and competitive resources in participating countries were necessary.  

Regional cooperation should have distinct features which, while capitalising on the region's overall strengths, must emphasise the uniqueness of each destination, develop tourism in each tourism destination equitably, coordinate job creation and labour training to improve the entire region's tourism infrastructural development and ease restrictions to facilitate travel in the region.

At present, most SADC countries are at different stages of development in tourism while restrictive requirements for cross-border operations hamper the adoption of UNIVISA.  Naobeb noted that bilateral benefits for Botswana and Namibian tourism were 'very good'. Botswana is landlocked while Namibia has plenty of coastal destinations frequented by visitors from Botswana, he pointed out. Namibia Tourism Board was currently considering putting strong footholders in Botswana to encourage Batswana to travel to Namibia beginning in 2012, he revealed.

Naobeb said plans were afoot to introduce a 35-seater Embraer Jet on Air Namibia's Windhoek-Maun-Victoria falls route. The service will be commissioned towards the end of March 2011 or earlier.