Maswikiti: One amongst resilient few

KASANE: Botswana was never spared from the paralysing effects of COVID-19 on the global tourism industry, but for the resilient few like Thelma Maswikiti and her airport lounge company, the first major influx of international tourists into Kasane in two years has sparked a glimmer of hope.

Maswikiti’s company, Nthula Airport Lounges which was founded nine years ago at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in 2013, provides comfortable exclusive seating areas to people in transit at airports. Originally based in Gaborone, the company expanded to Kasane International Airport in 2018 finding the major inflows of international tourists into the Chobe region to be much greener pastures.

Naturally, a business solely dedicated to catering for people in-transit travel would be the hardest hit by the pandemic and its associated restrictions as Maswikiti’s business was forcibly closed during the first lockdown of 2020 when international travel came to a near-complete halt.

The company endured two full years of draconian restrictions placing a vice grip on its finances and sustained viability into the future. However, Maswikiti remained persistent in her endeavours. As international travel restrictions eased and Botswana slowly re-entered the global travel space, Maswikiti saw budding progress emerge in Gaborone as business professionals began to resume their international travels.

However, with Kasane being Maswikiti’s big-ticket seller, the company ran at unsustainable levels until as recently as April 2022. The early winter chills drawing animals from hiding in the sparse bushlands of the Chobe region has attracted international tourists back to the country for the first time in roughly two years.

To Maswikiti, this could not be a better opportunity. “The business has been struggling, naturally as someone that works so closely with travel tourism that was to be expected.

We’ve been running at a consistent loss for these past two years, but now that Kasane is starting to see activity I can start to breathe better,” Maswikiti said. Despite this spark of hope the resurgence of tourism in the area has provided, she noted that the business is far from being out of the woods.

“What’s happening now is that I have finally poked my head out of the water. It doesn’t mean I’ve been saved, but it does mean I can last longer and hopefully find the strength to save myself,” she added.

Maswikiti expressed that while business has yet to become profitable, it has become far more sustainable due to the masses of international tourists coming into Kasane. “I don’t expect to see profits quite yet, but I’m slowly reaching breakeven and for any business that’s extremely important. Kasane has always been huge for my business, without Kasane my business wouldn’t be around at all. Kasane is about as good as my business,” she elated.

Thankfully for Maswikiti, the resurgence of international travel has allowed travel companies to resume their businesses as well and even begin to expand their business as demand for travel shoots up globally.

However, the persistence of travel regulations may hamper the business potential of Nthula Airport Lounges, and the rest of the greater Chobe region’s businesses.

Easement of these regulations seems a likely reality in the books as the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) has dedicated this calendar year to the way forward for the tourism industry post-pandemic.

Should policy relaxation at the borders go smoothly through the government, then financial recovery to Kasane may come sooner than expected.