26 Feb 2017

President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama officially opened the Goo Moremi Resort also known as the Goo-Moremi Manonnye Gorge at Moremi village in the Tswapong constituency on Friday.

The Goo-Moremi Resort is a partnership between Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) and Moremi Manonnye Conservation Trust.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama said the day marked another milestone in the ministry’s effort to facilitate community involvement in tourism development.

Mr Khama said the ministry had set the tone for such developments through Community Based Natural Resources Management Policy.

The policy, he said, was to guide collaboration between government and communities in terms of tourism development and resources conservation.

He said the policy success was evident as his ministry through BTO, had established a number of facilities around the country most of which were operating.

Minister Khama said Goo-Moremi Resort was one example of what could be achieved if communities joined hands towards a common tourism development goal.

He noted that the journey to setting up the project had been interesting and one full of memories, adding that the project was one of the first few carried out after repealing the old Botswana Tourism Act to allow BTO to invest in Greenfield projects.

However, Mr Khama said the resort had other developments to be completed .

He said the move to allow BTO to invest in such projects was necessitated by the realisation that most communities were not able to set up tourism operations on their own, owing to various challenges such as funds and skills. He said as one of the projects of its kind, due diligence was ensured to minimise and mitigate challenges inherent with new tourism developments.

He said the spirituality and sacred nature of the place was taken on board when developing and was embedded in the story shared with visitors as it was what made the resort unique.

"Other such developments by BTO included Tsabong-The Ecotourism Camel Park, Qcwihaba Camp Site and Seboba Recreational Park in Kasane," Minister Khama said.

These, he said, were part of the CBNRM dream that added to government’s strategy for rural development, and had contributed to the preservation of resources which were previously otherwise vandalised.

He said prior to the establishment of the resort, the project area faced challenges such as degrading of range resources, and incidents of poaching but once fully operational such environmental threats were resolved through among others, the involvement of the community.

He said the Central District had potential for further tourism development which he said the ministry would harness with an intention to eventually develop.

For his part, BTO acting CEO, Mr Zibanani Hubona said the industry appreciated such new developments which added to the country’s tourism product offering and diversification, particularly the community based cultural and heritage tourism product.

Mr Hubona said the development of the project started in 2008 and employed 14 staff members who were residents of Moremi and only two officers, the manager and the deputy who were non-residents.

He said the project was well branded and had been doing relatively well since inception.

Mr Hubona assured the community of BTO continued support and applauded all who took part in ensuring that the project was a success. ENDS