28 Apr 2019

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Mr Kitso Mokaila has called on the hospitality and tourism industry to introspect because though lucrative, it is not for everybody.

Officiating at the 35th Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) annual conference themed, Sustainable Tourism: A Driving Force for Job Creation, Economic Growth and Development, last week Mr Mokaila said all indicators suggested that the sector was doing well.

He noted that the contribution of the sector to the Gross Domestic Product was estimated at 4.9 per cent, with 1.9 million arrivals as at 2016, an estimated 19 000 jobs in 2018 and annual growth of 3.7 per cent.

Mr Mokaila said the carrying capacity for elephants In 1990 was 55 000 and in 2018 there were about 158 000 elephants while the national population stood at 1.3 million in 1990 and increased to slightly over 2 million in 2011.

The fact that the country has not grown in size Minister Mokaila said meant that “we are sitting on a ticking time bomb called land use crisis yet it surprises some to talk about human/wildlife conflict and poaching increase.”

Mr Mokaila wondered if the industry ever thought about the communities that lived adjacent to the concessions.

He lamented that the industry seemed insensitive about the lives of people and how they were suffering since their concern was only about wildlife.

There is need, he said to develop strategies that showed that the rural communities in the concessions were taken into consideration otherwise there would be no point in coming to conferences but fail to deal with real issues and come up with strategies that addressed them if indeed they wanted to work towards creating jobs, economic growth and development.

Not accusing the industry of anything but merely indicating that government and the industry should do something about the livelihoods of the people in the concessions who are living in abject poverty because they cannot rear cattle or grow crops, Mr

Mokaila said the industry should instead of handing out football kits and sponsoring tournaments, develop sustainable enterprises for them if indeed they wanted to do as the theme suggested.

He said he was not prepared to lead a ministry that left others behind and implored the industry, which has potential to address unemployment to join hands in creating jobs.

Instead of using staff for choirs that entertain guests, Mr Mokaila challenged establishments to empower rural communities to do such and generate income.

Equally discouraging, he said were hotels whose curio shops sold goods made outside the country instead of promoting locally made goods.

HATAB chairperson, Dr Thapelo Matsheka committed to ensuring active participation of local investors and communities in the tourism industry.

Dr Matsheka explained that this included among others, review and unbundling of trading licenses to allow for diversification of activities to increase length of stay and revenue, promotion of local operators and agents to curb revenue leakages.

However, he said the Maun International Airport development, a gateway to the Okavango Delta, had been slow and noted that it should be made a priority.

He also called for the upgrading of the Francistown/Nata road and Maun/ Shakawe road to ensure an up to standard road network which would positively contribute to local and regional tourism growth.

The HATAB chairperson also stated that culture and heritage tourism was overlooked adding that products derived from the same were not exploited to benefit communities.

“Lobatse, which is the historical administrative capital of Botswana post Mafikeng, the constitutional house, the Mandela House and the Samora Machel monument can create a source of income as well as employment opportunities for our citizens,” he said.

Dr Matsheka further said the Anglican Church which had been declared a national heritage site in Lobatse was falling apart due to lack of maintenance and the congregation and leadership of the church were frustrated by the slow or lack of urgency to maintain it by the government.

On other issues, Dr Matsheka commended government for abandoning the implementation of the Tourism Development Levy, re-constitution of the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) board, appointment of the substantive BTO chief executive officer and returning land administration to the land-boards. ENDS