EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI):INVITATION FOR EXPRESSION OF IST TO LEASE TOURISM SITES IN CHOBE NATIONAL PARK FOR FIFTY (50) YEARS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Department of Wildlife and National Parks, which is under the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism (MENT), is tasked with Management of Wildlife and Fishery Resources in Botswana. The management of all Wildlife Conservation Areas (Wildlife Management Areas, Game Reserves & National Parks) is governed by Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act (Chapter 38:01) of 1992. Section 6 (d & e) of the Act provides an economic opportunity for investment by Individuals, Companies & Consotia into hospitality enterprises and related activities. It is against this background that the Department undertook to identify eight (8) sites for potential development into Tourism Enterprises within Chobe National Park which could be leased out to Companies & Consotiums domicile in Botswana and are 100% Citizen owned.

2.0 SCOPE FOR THE LEASING OF THE TOURISM PLOTS

MENT, therefore, wishes to invite 100% Citizen-owned Companies and 100% Citizen-owned Consortiums registered with Company Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) to submit proposals for the development and operation of Tourism Sites for a lease period of

fifty (50) years.

Companies should have Tourism Licences from the Department of Tourism which have been in existance at least for the past two (2) years and in the case of Consortiums, they should have at least one company which has a Tourism Licence that has been in existance for the past two (2) years or more. The sucessful Bidders will be required to develop and operate a facility with a maximum of fifty (50) rooms and a maximum of seventy-five (75) beds at each site.

There are eight (8) sites available for offer, measuring three (3) hectares each along Chobe River front in the Chobe National Park, located two (2) kilometers from each other between Ihaha Wildlife camp to Kasika – see Annexure 1. The individual sites are shown by the Geographical Coordinates depicted in the table below, with each coordinate point representing the centre of each site.

Sucessful Bidders will be expected to have developed and be operating their facility within a period of four (4) years after formal allocation.

3.0 BIDDING PROCESS

All applicants will be expected to attend a compulsory site visit on the 03 March 2022 at 0900 hours and Bidders will be expected to meet and register at the Regional Wildlife Office in Kasane on the stated date and time. Applicants who FAIL to attend the Compulsory site visit on the stated date and time will not be considered.

Applicants will only be allowed to bid for one (1) site.

4.0 RESPONSE TO EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Bidders are expected to submit sealed envelopes clearly marked “EXPRESSION OF INTEREST TO LEASE TOURISM SITES IN CHOBE NATIONAL PARK FOR FIFTY (50) YEARS’’ containing one(1) Original and three (3) duplicates of their Management Plans that highlights, but not limited to the following:

1. Bidder’s Contribution to Park Management

2. Proposed Environmental Management (Protection of the Park’s Biodiversity)

3. Proposed Water Protection initiatives

4. Clear demonstration of Development Plan (Capital and schedule of activities for the development of the site)

5. Proposed Employment Creation opportunities for Citizens

6. Demonstration of Value chain opportunities

7. Proposals for Corporate Social Responsibility

5.0 SELECTION PROCESS

initiatives

The Bidder selection will be based on the following three (3) stages;

§ Stage 1- Compliance Check

§ Stage 2 -Technical Evaluation

§ Stage 3 – Financial Evaluation

6.0 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 6.1 STAGE 1 - COMPLIANCE

Assessment will be conducted to enable the Client to determine compliance to submission requirements based on the following documents: a) Copy of Company Extracts. b) Documentary proof of source of finance (financial statements, bank statements, reference letters/letter of intent to finance) c) Project Proposal (including Feasibility & Viability, Market Analysis, Management plan, Capital investment & Employment creation for citizens) d) Provision of TIN for validation of Tax Clearance Certificate

(TCC) or exemption thereof issued by BURS. BURS TCC is

subject to online registration verification.

e) Duly completed Certificate for Authority of Signatories f) Certified copies of valid Identity Cards (Omang) for

Directors or Shareholders g) Valid Tourism Licence from Department of Tourism

(Minimum of two (2) years)

6.2 STAGE TWO: TECHNICAL EVALUATION – PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The second stage of evaluation will involve allocating scores to the bidders based on the criterion below, using merit points system.