25 Apr 2016

 One of Maun's distinguished business people, Mr John Wellio has called on the government to improve accessibility to tourism destinations.

Mr Wellio made the plea during this year's annual Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) conference in Maun on Friday.

He said such a move would go a long way in helping the struggling Air Botswana, and to also make it affordable for tourists to access the county’s prestigious tourism destinations.

The business magnate also called on the government to come up with an elephant management plan to control the increasing number of elephants in the country.

Better still, he said the government should consider culling elephants to control their number.

However, the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama said he believed that Air Botswana should be refinanced to increase its effectiveness.

He said the airline has a new board which should be given a chance to turn around the organisation.

On other issues, the minister called on Batswana to have meaningful participation in the tourism industry.

Mr Khama admitted that the issue of connectivity and procedures of getting visas were amongst the factors that were stifling the tourism sector. 

He further cautioned that xenophobia could also impede the country from participating competitively in the tourism industry.

The minister also said the country needed to sustain its flora and fauna least it found itself in a situation where such treasures were threatened.

Another speaker, Mr David Kays of Ngamiland Adventures Safaris, acknowledged that the tourism sector had grown in leaps and bounds as a result of positive interventions from the government.

To sustain the growth, he urged relevant ministries to work together to ensure the smooth participation of investors in the industry.

Mr Kays also warned that as the industry grows from strength to strength, so were the challenges that call for stakeholders to do away with negatives perceptions as they were not good for the tourism product.

He said captains of the industry were never consulted or their views taken on board whenever an important decision was taken. This, he said, was a threat to the industry.

Mr Kays said the daily delays experienced in different ministries by tourism operators and tourists have huge repercussions on the growth of the sector. ENDS