Govt urged to invest in film tourism to bolster revenue
Film tourism worth more than P470million Calls for establishment of National Film Commission
Government has been urged to invest in educational and creative enterprises geared at promoting tourism in Botswana.
These include the film tourism, which has potential to bolster the country’s income revenue, and also alleviate unemployment.
Wildlife documentary producer Molebi Otukile said in an interview that educational productions from Botswana related to tourism, would not only sensitise the public on issues related to wildlife and conservation in the country, but also sell Botswana’s pristine flora and fauna to the world.
“As Batswana, we have the will and passion, but the biggest impediment is lack of financing and protective laws. Imagine having to sell all your assets just to shoot one episode of a documentary… I sold my car to just shoot one episode of my first documentary.
“But I had to persevere because it is a story worth telling. When you look at how important content on issues of conservation and tourism are, yet expensive to create, it becomes important for government to assist because these productions are not only educational but also sell the tourism industry to the world”. World Tourism Organisation indicates that international travel arrivals reached the 1.4 billion mark in 2018, and while numbers dipped due to the Covid- 19 pandemic, a surge is anticipated again once vaccination drives end and travel restrictions have been eased. Film tourism is defined as tourists visiting a certain destination or attraction as a result of the area being featured on television, video or cinema screen.
According to a travel survey report Travel Daily agency, film tourism has grown in recent years, fuelled by growth of the entertainment industry and the increase in international travel.
It says that over 80 million international travellers are influenced by films worldwide, and revenue from film tourism alone is estimated to be over US$ 41million, approximately P437 million. Otukile said there are many educational stories on Botswana’s wildlife and conservation worth being documented, not only for information collection and historical data collection, but also to bolster the tourism industry.
He said it is often foreigners who benefit from Botswana’s resources because they come here and use the resources without giving anything back to the communities.
He also cited of proper legislation as a factor that limits Batswana’ potential. “The biggest challenge is the lack of a functional film commission that regulates the film activity in Botswana.
“We have a big problem whereby filming companies come from outside the country to film here and locals don’t benefit. If there was a Commission to regulate filming within the country, things would be better”.
Otukile added that, for example, Government would stipulate that if a company films in the Okavango, it must pay a fee and also ensure that 40 percent of the productions are locals.
He said this would help communities benefit from international film companies that come to Delta for example and shoot there, and leave, with locals gaining nothing. Otukile, who is the director of Lesmore Production Company, is currently working on a production titled, ‘ Footsteps of a guide,’ which is being shot from the pristine wilderness of the Okavango Delta. “It is a 100 percent local and self- funded production. We started working on it late last year from Khwai into the Savuti mesh, where we follow a pride of lions of about 30 that has been roaming the Savuti since 2011 - we are very proud
to cover that pride”.
He said they halted production due to financial challenges and were looking for sponsors, but expressed confidence that upon completion, the documentary would be a sterling educational production on wildlife, conservation and tourism. Otukile produced his breakthrough documentary on human- wildlife conflict, ‘ Into the Okavango’ in 2019, and it earned him national and international acclaim. He said human- wildlife conflict is a niggling issue in Botswana, and in most cases, deaths occur due to lack of education on animal behaviour. Otukile’s inspiration to see this human- wildlife through to the end was also propelled by a leading feature of the documentary. When he was still researching for the documentary, he
heard about a man who was attacked by a buffalo in the Chobe region and he went to interview him. “The buffalo had left him for dead and he had bad head injuries yet he survived. I managed to interview him and he told me what happened. However, after a few weeks when I returned to visit him again, I was unfortunately told that he had succumbed to those injuries and passed on. “I visited his grave and the heaviness around his death made me realise the intensity of attacks by animals on humans. This motivated me to start producing more filers on human- wildlife conflict in areas in northern Botswana, with the hope that the documentaries would create education on how people can live in harmony with wild animals.”