24 Mar 2015

Botswana Guides Association (BOGA) has been hailed for its continued efforts in championing citizen participation in the tourism industry.

BOGA is an association spearheading citizen empowerment into the tourism industry.  It promotes the development of locally based tour and safari industry in Botswana and tries to increase the employment opportunities for the local people.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Wildlife, Environment and Tourism during BOGA annual general meeting, the deputy permanent secretary, Mr Felix Mongae said since the inception of the association, there was a significant participation by citizen owned businesses in the tourism industry.

“As government, we are very proud of this achievement and pledge our commitment to helping our citizens succeed in this industry. 

We are also much interested on the future, as we are currently facing numerous challenges in the management of natural resources,” he added. He also raised a concern about the escalating regional poaching of the mega species and urged the beneficiaries being tour operators to solicit ideas from their members as they discuss their future on how as a nation the scourge could be prevented from coming to Botswana.

Mr Mongae noted that government alone would not succeed and welcomed their input and participation since they traverse the affected areas.

Since independence, he said the economy had been heavily dependent upon mineral mining noting that tourism had received considerable attention of late as a strategic priority for the country as a means of development and a tool for transforming Botswana into a more diversified economy.

The private sector was a great partner towards this realization, he added. The meeting was held under the theme To Uphold the Good Reputation of Botswana as Tourist Destination.”

The deputy permanent secretary said theme was relevant and came at the right time as concerted efforts were needed to uphold low volume high value tourism which had contributed immensely to the protection of destination areas.

Mr Mongae said though there were other factors including low population compared to their competitors that had led to their protected areas being pristine, “we need to be proud that the policy has resulted in very minimal pressure being exerted in these areas hence their wilderness and virginity which attracts high market rates for their quality and uniqueness.”

As it was indicated that BOGA has lately acquired a 3.7 hectors of land at Matlapaneng for the development of a learning centre, Mr Mongae said it was a welcome development as the centre would cater for young Batswana looking to carve a career in the tourism industry.

He said the centre would provide for a bigger cultural interaction with valued guests. BOGA, he added had been a valuable partner in some developments in national parks and game reserves citing that routine maintenance bridges and signposts in Moremi had been a challenge for government to carry out due to the economic downturn but the association donated bridge poles, sign posts including transport to deliver the material at respective sites.

Mr Mongae acknowledged the great participation by the association to safeguard the national resources, adding that the government also acknowledges the challenges they faced of which some had been there for a long time.

He said some challenges could only be addressed through commitment of stakeholders citing the Mababe/Khwai, Mababe/Savuti, Shorobe/South gate and Rakops/Matswere gate tourist routes which had been identified as those that needed maintenance.

The deputy permanent secretary said that would be possible with the necessary partnership as indicated in the past. ENDS