24 Nov 2020

Opening of air space in the tourism industry has been hailed as a sigh of relief to some tourism operators after seven months of movement restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic.

In an effort to resuscitate the tourism industry, the government allowed direct chartered international flights into Chobe and Ngamiland regions effective beginning of November and the move saw Maun international airport receiving the first flight from Switzerland on November13.

It was reported that guests were going to Duba Plains Camp in the Okavango delta operated by Great Plains Safari Company.

The tourism industry was one of the sectors of the economy that were hard hit and the government did all in its power to come up with strategies to ensure recovery of the industry.

The industry relied much on international clientele and the imposing of movement restriction resulted in many countries closing their airspace to ward off the pandemic while locally some companies had to close while some retrenched workers.

In an interview, Great Plains general manager, Mr Bruce Petty welcomed the decision by the government saying it allowed international tourism to once again focus on selling Botswana, a leading safari destination.

The decision, he said also allowed the tourism industry to open up its doors in a safe manner for guests and staff. He confirmed that they had two direct flights charters into their camps adding that one was from Switzerland while the other was from France.

Both flights, he said were streamlined and handled professionally by port health and Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAA) adhering to all direct charter protocols limiting any transmission risks to citizens.

Mr Petty revealed that Great Plains and Botswana Tourism Organization were working hand in hand to ensure all industry protocols are maintained to the highest standard in the lodges.

Maun Lodge operation manager, Mr Kevin Riley revealed that COVID 19 outbreak had a huge impact on their businesses and thanked the government to allow international chartered flights into Maun.

He hoped that the businesses would pick up bit by bit adding that currently, they had not received any bookings from international clientele but stated that they were well prepared as far as COVID 19 prevention measures were concerned.

The high ranking Maun Lodge is well known as the best and busiest hotel in the tourism destination as it caters for both international and local tourists and people visiting Maun on business.

Mr Riley noted that although business was still slow, the facility was enjoying support from local tourists, mine workers and sub-contractors.

“We are hopeful that things will improve by December as lot of people will be travelling to Maun to celebrate Christmas and New Year holidays,” he added.

While some tourism operators hail the government efforts to allow direct chartered flights in Ngamiland some particularly mobile safari operators had mixed feelings saying the move will not benefit them much.

In an interview with Botswana Guides Association (BOGA) chairperson, Mr Kenson Kgage explained that the move was a welcome development as it would benefit big companies which own lodges in the Okavango Delta.

The move, he said would not benefit the mobile safari companies and those small tourism business activities because no one would charter a flight for a mobile safari.

“Most international tourists will just land in Maun and connect to the delta. For us small businesses, it will take time to receive international customers because we run tailor made businesses,” he added.

BOGA is 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.

Although, Mr Kgage revealed that following the pronouncement by the government to allow direct chartered international flights to Ngamiland, they started discussing the trips logistics with their international clientele as last time they requested them to postpone instead of cancelling the bookings.

But, most of them did not confirm as they stated that they were still working on the trip logistics.

He also pointed out that the move came at the right time as they approach festive season noting that they were well prepared.

Their efforts to promote domestic tourism, he said was in vain as the locals continue to disappoint them. Mr Kgage who operate Naga Mobile Safari said locals do book and cancel the bookings at the last minute while they had already spent in preparations unlike international clients who pay in advance.

He said locals refuse to pay in advance for confirmation of their trips despite giving them affordable prices. In addition, he said they do charge cancellation fee but it was difficult to charge the locals because they do no pay upfront.

Sankoyo Tshwaragano Management Trust assistant manager, Mr Nkgololang Samakata also concurred that the move would only benefit big companies which own lodges.

The trust, he said operated campsites and they were targeting self-drive tourists. He said they were hopeful that the pandemic would stabilize and eventually more countries would open borders.

Mr Samakata also noted that while the pandemic brought consequences on the business aspect, they had the opportunity to improve the standard of their facilities citing Kazikini campsite. The pandemic, he said had also taught them to think outside the box and diversify their source of income generation going forward.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview, CAAB public relations and communications manager, Mr Modipe Nkwe revealed that they were hoping for aviation activities to be revived following pronouncement by the government to allow direct chartered international flights to Ngamiland and Chobe districts.

He noted that Maun airport had a rich aviation history given the tourism industry which accounted for majority of landing and take-offs, adding that they were expecting more flights as many countries had opened borders.

He was hopeful that going forward, all scheduled flights would return including the chartered flights and eventually the tourism industry would recover. ENDS