27 Jan 2022

While some tourism operators are pinning their hope on domestic tourism to keep the industry afloat following COVID-19 effects, Botswana Guides Association (BOGA) has decried low profits from the domestic market.

BOGA chairperson, Mr Kenson Kgaga said this during a press conference which aimed  sharing grievances and   appreciate efforts made by government to ensure recovery of the industry.

Mr Kgaga said they were of the view that domestic tourism could fuel recovery of the tourism industry if it was given attention  unfortunately benefits were tilted towards hospitality businesses than BOGA members.

BOGA, a Maun based non-profit making non-governmental organisation that advocates for tour guides and mobile safaris.

Mr Kgaga said their clients used to make better profits from the international market.

Local tourists, he said could not match the international clientele as they wanted to pay low prices and expected excellent customer service.

In addition, he said locals did not understand their operations as they wanted to pay on arrival whereas international clients paid upfront to facilitate preparations.

He however, appreciated that most locals had developed an interest in travelling to appreciate the beauty of the country.

Mr Kgaga stressed the need to drill locals on responsible tourism adding that they were disturbed by tourists who failed to obey instructions from tour guides during trips despite efforts to appraise them on the behaviour of different animals and how they should conduct themselves while travelling.

He said some acted irresponsibly and endangered their lives citing some unfortunate incidents where some local tourists ended up drowning in the river during boat excursions.

BOGA manager, Mr Lebogang Xoo underscored the need to embark on public education to create awareness on the importance of travelling and how mobile safaris operates.

He concurred that locals were making their operations difficult as they lacked knowledge. While he appreciated government efforts to promote domestic tourism, he said there was need to drill locals on their processes and expectations of tourists during trips.

He said they had experienced that some of their members ended up incurring some unnecessary expenses because some tourists make some bookings and never turned up while some cancel last minute. Ends