19 Nov 2020

Xaixai Tlhabologo Community Trust has not yet benefited from the campsites facilities that had long been built by Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO).

The campsites facilities were built to empower the community trusts to operate tourism activities in and around Gcwihaba National Monument.

The facilities included campsites, a gatehouse with ablution block constructed by Xai Xai community in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism through Ipelegeng programme.

Despite efforts by the government to empower the trust, it is still struggling to generate income as the campsite has not been operational.

The trust manager, Mr Eric Keharara confirmed in an interview, that they had not fully benefited from the facility despite efforts by government to assist with amenities.

The facilities, he said had not been operational because there was no business due to inadequate marketing of the area adding that marketing was done through a word of mouth.

Currently, said Mr Keharara the facilities needed to be refurbished as they had been idling for a long time.

He said they needed to do some paintings and attend to plumbing works to make the area more attractive before they could welcome tourists.

He said the existing gatehouse was not serving the purpose but they had been assisted with P1 million by Conservation Trust Fund (CTF) to construct another gatehouse complete with ablutions.

Mr Keharara also associated lack of business to non-functioning of the borehole as they could not accommodate guests at the facilities without water.

The borehole, he said also watered wildlife around the campsites.

The trust manager said they had requested BTO to assist with maintenance of the borehole and were currently awaiting response.

He noted that once the borehole was operational, they would intensify their marketing strategy through the assistance of BTO to attract more tourists.

The construction of the second gate, Mr Keharara said had been put on hold as they were waiting for the completion of the ongoing development of integrated management plan of NG4 to guide them.

NG4 concession is a controlled hunting area located in western Ngamiland adjacent to Namibia. The area falls into gazetted wildlife management area.

Mr Keharara however said the integrated management plan was a welcome development as they needed a tool to guide them before they could undertake more developments.

In addition, he said the plan would be instrumental in promoting community based tourism and help to harness economic benefits from the natural resources in their area for the betterment of the community.

The area, he said had a lot to offer in terms cultural tourism such as the Basarwa culture and the famous caves of Gcwihaba and Koanaka hills.

Mr Keharara was hopeful that the plan would assist the trust to develop what was already in existence because Gcwihaba was a remote area and they could not put more infrastructure when they could not fully utilise the existing ones. He wished the plan could assist with a robust marketing strategy of the existing campsite.

Safari hunting was the main source of revenue for the trust even though they were facilities and other eco-cultural tourism products in the area that can still be harnessed to generate income upon the restriction of hunting.

The trust chairman, Mr Aron Salepito concurred that trust management was still handicapped because they had not yet fully benefited despite assistance by government with facilities aimed at enhancing diversification of tourism products in their area.

He said the campsites had been idling because of lack of business.

Mr Salepito also noted that they had plans to construct a craft shop where villagers could sell their handicrafts but that did not materialise because of financial constraints.

He said currently they were pinning their hopes on the  NG4 plan to stimulate employment opportunities as the community relied on Ipelegeng programme to make ends meet. Ends