Tourism stakeholders call for more sustainability solutions
Hospitality and tourism industry has expressed mixed views on government’s recent decision to allow private charter flights into the country’s tourism gateway destinations – Kasane and Maun.
The initiative is part of a cocktail of solutions expected to prop up the ailing industry, from COVID- 19 impacts, as stakeholders call for more interventions. Authorities at the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, this week said private charter flights will be allowed at two ports of entry namely, Maun and Kasane International Airports.
Government further said that it is finalizing the required legislative framework to facilitate such air travel, which will include protocols for compliance. The charter flights are expected to bring a few high value tourists into the country, despite social distancing and travel restrictions that exist across the globe. However, stakeholders in the hospitality and tourism industry have expressed mixed views on the development.
“It is a welcome development but for long term recoverability and sustainability of the tourism sector we are hopeful that sooner rather than later borders will be opened for travelers,” said Managing Director for Cresta Marakanelo, Mokwena Morulane.
Cresta Marakanelo has suffered a huge dent on its operations in the first
half of the year, due to the national lockdown from 2nd of April to the 4th of June, which resulted in the closure of the company’s hotels for normal operations. Sharing the same sentiments, are the small players in the industry, who are suffocating from the unraveling impacts of COVID- 19. They are calling for more initiatives.“The initiative ( private charter f light) is geared more at the foreign owned establishments and do not cater for the small Motswana operator, though we applaud government for the decision.
“This is more aimed at the high end,” said Motsebe Backpackers Directors, Lesedi Mosiieman in Maun . In Kasane, Dream Travel Director, Mist Setaung said the private charter flights are for a few priviledged individuals who are only a handful. “At the moment we need backpackers more than rich people, because backpackers travel in large numbers and travel throughout the year on shoestring budget. It is expensive for ordinary people to travel on private charter,” said Setaung. Setaung is however not convinced that the country’s health facilities in the resort town of Kasane are fully equipped for emergencies.
Though international tourists are expected to help resuscitate the ailing tourism industry’s plunging operations, Setaung is also not convinced that opening up borders will immediately revive the tourism industry.
“Europe is on its second wave of the COVID- 19 pandemic and people are dying in huge numbers every day. I hardly see people leaving their homes coming for leisure,” said Setaung. With so much uncertainties still haunting the tourism industry and threatening to plunge the sector into an abyss, supported by statistics painting a gloomy picture, Germany government has recently donated 4.8 million Euros ( approximately 65.8million Pula), to support the local tourism sector which has been adversely affected by COVID- 19.
In addition, the tourism industry is also part of the government’s Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan ( ERTP) expected to ignite several sectors from the COVID- 19 impacts. Some of the sectors identified under the ERTP include agriculture, ICT, manufacturing and mining. Government is also proposing zero percent interest loans for players in the tourism industry, expected to kick off next month.