05 Sep 2023

Forging strategic partnerships with the private sector is key in promoting rural tourism and Local Economic Development (LED) initiative for the benefit of the communities.

Okavango District Council Secretary, Ms Iris Sitayelo, said during the recent Tourism Pitso in Maun Lodge under the theme “Building self-sufficient communities.”

Ms Sitayelo said private sector was a major stakeholder in planning and development of the district, noting that they could not attain their desired goal of transforming the status of the new fully-fledged district without their assistance.

The district, she said, was the epi-centre of the Okavango delta and there were a lot of tourists accessing the delta but the local communities were missing out on the trickle-down effect.

Ms Sitayelo stated that tourism provided several benefits to local economies as it generated new revenue streams by attracting visitors and increasing the amount of money spent in the area especially rural tourism.

As visitors explore local attractions, she said, they purchased goods and services from local businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, and souvenir shops and thus in turn, created employment opportunities, which could benefit the residents.

Ms Sitayelo called on the private sector to take a deliberate move so that their business operations could infiltrate the communities so that they directly benefit from tourists interactions and the district infant hospitality industry could grow.

“Such a move will help promote and preserve local culture, traditions and heritage as well as encourage residents to take pride in their community through selling their traditional artifacts, showcasing their different colorful cultures and diverse dances to the visitors,” she added.

Tourism, she said, did not only create jobs opportunities but it could also stimulate the development of infrastructure in the area such as the construction of new hotels and transportation systems.

“Our dream through the LED strategy is to have a five star hotel somewhere in Shakawe.

We have a number of available plots in that area, all we need is an investor to take us on board and help turn our dream into reality,” she added.

She said a thriving tourism industry would help build infrastructure such as roads, parks, hospitals, schools and community areas to develop communities in the Okavango District because the government was preaching mind-set change.

Ms Sitayelo decried the bad status of the roads in the district, far away schools and the high rate of unemployment which had left communities poverty stricken.

The government, she said, was committed to seeing off all those challenges, but the reality was that it could not manage all the burden alone hence private sector involvement was paramount.

While she appreciated that some companies had done a lot through their corporate social responsibility initiative, she raised a concern that there was a duplication of efforts between them and the council and wished they could all agree to do away with it going forward.

The council, she said, was mandated with providing social services to the less fortunate members of the communities and that was done through provision of different social safety nets to different sectors of the communities and according to their needs.

She added: “I have come to the realization that some of you also provide the same to our communities hence the duplication of efforts.

“As a way of building self-sufficient communities, my dream is for us to come up with projects that will encourage our communities to have projects that will restore dignity to their lives by creating employment.

I have a vision of us partnering in these projects to eradicate poverty and this can become a reality if all the stakeholders join hands.” ENDS