Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lilly Rakorong hinted that the state may be hesitant to proceed with the decision. The Business Weekly & Review posed a question to Rakorong, seeking to clarify the government’s stance on leasing land along the pristine Chobe river.
HATAB represents the private sector in high-level meetings such as the High-Level Consultative Council (HLCC) and other closed-door engagements, where discussions on decisions affecting the tourism industry take place.
Since late last year, The Business Weekly & Review has been attempting to obtain a comment from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) regarding whether the government is still proceeding with its controversial decision to lease out eight lodges along the Chobe riverfront, totaling 400 rooms.
The Department has not been able to respond despite repeated follow-ups.
“The last response we received from government was that they have decided to go back to the consultation process,” Rakorong disclosed to the media.
Ironically though, government had sometime last year decided to proceed with issuing licenses for operating the lodges within the national park.
Before announcing a decision, government usually starts with the consultation process, which is the first step taken, before a key decision can be made.
In previous engagements with this publication last year, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), under the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation, and Tourism (MENT), indicated that the consultation process had been completed, and they were currently in the phase of formulating management plans.
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) is responsible for the management of wildlife and fish resources in Botswana. The management of all Wildlife Conservation Areas, Wildlife Management Areas, Game Reserves, and National Parks is governed by the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act (Chapter 38:01) of 1992. Section 6 (d & e) of the Act specifically allows for economic opportunities for investment by individuals, companies, and consortia into hospitality enterprises and related activities within these areas.
At the time, Department of Wildlife and National Parks said it had just finalised a management plan for Chobe National Park and identified untapped potential for more accommodation within the park as one way to better use the capacity that exists within the 10,600 km2 park.
Then, government said the development of the management plan would involve extensive consultations and analysis, including ecological aspects.
Government further elaborated that the management plan includes deliberate actions aimed at mitigating congestion. These actions entail opening new routes to incentivise investors in specific sections of the park, ensuring water provision in areas where such infrastructure is needed, and establishing new tourism routes to connect Chobe National Park with neighboring forest reserves and community conservation areas.
They also highlighted that the management plan acknowledges several zones, including high-intensity zones, medium-intensity zones, remote zones, and wilderness zones. This zoning approach ensures ample space for wildlife to inhabit and enables the sustainability of high-end tourism products offered by Chobe National Park into the future.
The Business Weekly & Review’s inquiry was motivated by the information that after facing a backlash from the tourism sector and the public, the government is said to be making a U-turn on its decision. This publication wanted to know whether the plan to lease out eight lodges still exists. If not, The Business Weekly & Review wanted to know why the government is backing down on the plan. If the government is still going ahead with the plan, this publication wanted to establish whether that means the government has decided to ignore the public outcry and widespread criticism.
However, the last inquiry and several follow ups sent to the DWNP remain unanswered.
Low-volume, high-value policy
Botswana’s tourism policy has been distinct from the outset. It was intentionally crafted as a low-volume, high-value policy aimed at maximising the exclusivity of tourism experiences. This approach targets high net-worth individuals who are willing to pay a premium to witness the pristine purity of the country’s wildlife and vegetation.
The 400 rooms that would be established in the park were going to be in contravention of this policy.
Nevertheless, this publication is informed that the government is planning to abandon the plan but maybe too embarrassed to accept defeat occasioned by the outcry from the public and industry players.
There are complaints that Chobe National Park is already congested.
What is evident is that while Chobe National Park is certainly huge, the river frontage is already congested because that is where most wildlife activities are concentrated.
While there is only one lodge inside the park, members of the public and several Kasane-based tour operators are allowed to go on game drives to the park, which results in a lot of vehicular movement inside the park.
This causes pollution in the form of carbon emissions, littering and noise, all of which have increased tremendously to the detriment of conservation efforts. Vegetation is being destroyed by the constant trampling that also raises much dust.
Some operators pointed to the fact that a lot of movement in the parks scares some of the wildlife away, which minimises game viewing as a key attraction to come visit.
They said the move could impact numbers of the well-heeled category of visitors sought after by Botswana’s low volume, high value tourism policy and ultimately revenue.
Observers are concerned that the multiplier effect of the plan on the environment could result in a certain level of degradation, posing deleterious consequences for Chobe National Park and its status as a veritable Edenic Park.
Conservationists believe that Wildlife corridors would be impinged upon and human-wildlife conflict increasing, necessitating mitigations like fences. They also believe wildlife behaviour would be negatively affected, leading to increases in dangerous encounters and increases in human-wildlife conflict.
Lodges on the river frontage
More than a year ago, the government issued out an expression of interest detailing plans to lease out concessions in the Chobe National Park. The plans would result in establishment of facilities with a combined total of 400 rooms along the Chobe riverfront inside the park. At that time government confirmed that there were eight lots, each permitting “a facility with a maximum of 50 rooms and a maximum of 7 beds at each site”.
Essentially, the government’s intention was that upon completion, the facilities would have the capacity to accommodate 600 people. Situated in the northern part of Botswana, Chobe National Park is the second largest in the country and is renowned for its exceptional game viewing opportunities throughout the year, boasting one of the largest populations of wild animals on the African continent.