Poor roads hamper access to Phikwe's tourist attractions

ONALENNA MODIKWA
Staff Writer | Wednesday September 29, 2010 00:00

This was said by the Coordinator of the Selebi-Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit, Kago Moshashane, during World Tourism Day celebrations here last Monday.

Moshashane said similarly, lack of a regional international airport makes the region less attractive for upmarket, low volume but high value travellers. Lack of reliable communication facilities in the region, especially mobile telephony and Internet access, also impinge on the marketability and accessibility of the region.

Moshashane said it must be borne in mind that the Selebi-Phikwe region is in competition with other regions of Botswana and the SADC region for foreign and indigenous tourism spend.

'It is therefore necessary to develop a vibrant and aggressive regional marketing strategy to sell the unknown but potentially viable tourism destination and national asset,' he said.

'There is a need to segment and define the markets, brand the region, create critical links with major players within the sector's value chain such as travel agents and to enforce standards to improve the quality of individual tourism enterprises.' He noted that lack of coordination of tourism activities both within the private sector and the region's community-based organisations is another hindrance. There is no organised regional business forum for the sector's stakeholders to engage in meaningful dialogue with their public sector counterparts.

Similarly, the community-based organisations sector structures within the Tswapong Hills operate in silos, commonly duplicating activity and creating unnecessary competition where the players could otherwise complement each other.

This results in lost opportunities to build synergies necessary to grow the regional tourism sector into a robust foreign income earner and an alternative engine to drive regional economic diversification, he regretted.

However, Moshashane said, despite all these challenges, SPEDU and other stakeholders must exploit opportunities of translating the region's comparative advantage into a competitive advantage. At policy level, there is a need to address regulatory constraints regarding licensing of tourism enterprises, enforcing legislation for purposes of encouraging free and fair competition and forging collaborations within the SADC region so as to improve market reach.Moshashane said to develop a sustainable regional tourism sector, the public sector must invigorate the private sector to invest in development of infrastructure needed to support the tourism sector. For instance, he explained, lack of infrastructure on the Botswana side of the regional trans-frontier park would only enable Zimbabwe and South Africa to benefit more in terms of tourist spend because they have a superior infrastructure base.

'Secondly, a strong and flexible legislative environment is needed to sharpen the competitive edge of the region, broaden the base for the sector to increase tourist spend and reduce institutional and legal bottlenecks that stand in the way of maximising profitability at enterprise level and strengthening the national purse through taxation,' he said. 'The regional tourism sector must be developed in a responsible manner to ensure that its future potential to continue improving the region's quality of life is not compromised.'

With the assistance of the European Union, SPEDU has carried out a feasibility study of the region's tourism potential. The study has emphasised that tourism could drive the region's economy if the region is promoted as a transit route to funnel tourists from South Africa to other regions of Botswana.

If properly developed, the tourism potential of Selebi-Phikwe region can create sustainable employment and increase the base of industry streams through vertical integration; in that way creating other secondary sectors and sub-sectors like agriculture. The region is home to the Tswapong Hills, which are rich in cultural heritage and natural springs. It has a number of archaeological sites such as Solomon's Wall in the Tuli Block, a Great Zimbabwe type of settlement a few metres from Motloutse River.

The Tuli Block area itself is relevant in the context of a regional product because it is already established and is being marketed through the efforts of the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO).

Existing resources owned by BCL Mine, such as Number 1 Shaft and the coal-powered steam locomotives that are reportedly the only ones operating in Botswana, can easily be developed for mine tourism to add to the products offered without a need for massive investment in infrastructure and technical expertise.