TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN BOTSWANA AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GABORONE 000715

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BTIO BEXP ECON ETRD SENV BC TRADE
SUBJECT: TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN BOTSWANA AND
TRANSBOUNDARY ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT



1. (U) Summary. The Government of Botswana views
the development of the tourism industry as a prime
driver of its economic diversification strategy away
from mineral dependence. Currently, tourism ranks
second as a generator of foreign exchange for the
national coffers, but growth has been stifled by an
approach codified in the country's historic tourism
policy known as "high value, low impact". This
cable analyzes challenges and opportunities related
to tourism development in Botswana as well as
transboundary environmental management of the Chobe
River and National Park, which surfaced during and
along the sidelines of the Hospitality and Tourism
Association of Botswana's (HATAB) official tourism
season opening conference held last month in Kasane.
End Summary.


2. (U) Tourism is the second largest generator of
foreign exchange in Botswana. It currently
represents over 11 percent of GDP, and has been
consistently identified by the Government of
Botswana as a prime driver of its economic
diversification strategy. But several factors are
inhibiting the ability of Botswana to develop its
tourism industry beyond its existing capacity.
Apart from the exogenous impact of exchange rate
fluctuations and cyclical downturns in worldwide
tourism, such as the after-effects of the September
11th attacks, there are three key issues impeding
the growth of the tourism industry in Botswana.
First, investment barriers, including short-term
land leases and the lack of open skies agreements.
Second, overcrowding in the Chobe National Park and
the difficulty in justifying growing numbers of
tourists in the framework of a strategy aimed at
"high value, low impact" tourism, while
simultaneously managing Botswana's unique
environment. And, third, the overemphasis of the
industry on up-market and low-market tourism without
addressing alternative middle-market options to
generate tourism revenue both inside and outside of
the national parks.

Investment Barriers
--------------


3. (U) There are two key investment barriers to
further developing the tourism industry. The first
is the short-term land leases-only fifteen years--
available to incoming investors. These 15-year
concessions are reviewed every 5 years for
compliance, essentially degrading them to 5-year
leases. This contrasts with the regulations in
other industries in Botswana, such as cattle
farming, for which land leases of 25-50 years can be
secured. The CEO of HATAB, Mr. Odirile Merafhe,
asked the Minister of Lands and Housing, Mr.
Seretse, why tourism leases could not be extended to
25 years, which is the typical lease for other types
of businesses. He stated that such a change could
encourage new investment. Minister Seretse's
response was that after the 15-year concession
expires, there is an "opportunity for citizen
empowerment."


4. (SBU) Without providing any details on what the
Minister meant by this statement, it could be
assumed that he was suggesting an expropriatory
policy. In a side conversation with Ambassador
Huggins during last month's conference, Minister
Seretse said that expropriation was not the intent
of his comment. However, the CEO of the Citizen
Entrepreneurial Development Agency told EconOff that
such an approach might be appropriate considering
the growing pressure on the GOB to promote citizen
empowerment. In fact, a recent article in the
government-owned "Daily News" outlined a growing
divide between expatriate-owned tourism operators
and citizen demands for increased preferential
opportunities. The article quoted one local
entrepreneur as saying, "Government should . . .make
the conditions friendly for us so that we also
penetrate the lucrative industry." Interestingly, in
the same article, a representative of the tourism
operators (mainly expatriate),shot back with the
comment that Batswana are not prepared to do the
blue-collar work and put in the long hours required
to succeed in the business.


5. (U) The second investment barrier is the lack of
adequate transportation infrastructure and options
as well as their associated high cost. This
includes the constraint of inadequate airline seat
capacity, given the infrequency of flights, which is
often cited as a barrier to regional tourism
development. This problem could be addressed in
part through the passage of open skies agreements,
both regionally and internationally, to encourage
competition and increase seat capacity. But the
lack of adequate transportation infrastructure
extends beyond airline capacity, to road
development, and utilities services provision in
areas that could be developed as tourism
destinations in Botswana. Inadequate infrastructure
to support the tourism industry acts as a barrier to
investment by discouraging alternative site
development.

Overcrowding
--------------


6. (SBU) Botswana's tourism strategy has hinged on
the framework of "high value, low impact"
development, aimed at capturing high-end market
travelers to pristine and well-managed ecosystems.
The Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism,
Mr. Kitso Mokaila, told Ambassador Huggins, that
since he took over as the Minister in October, he
has been trying, unsuccessfully, to get
clarification on the definition of what "low impact"
really means in a quantifiable form. Minister
Mokaila also said the tourism strategy is currently
under review, but acknowledged the difficulty of
harmonizing it with competing demands for growth in
the tourism industry and protection of Botswana's
natural resources.


7. (SBU) A consistent theme along the sidelines of
the HATAB conference, was the overcrowding of the
Chobe National Park by both elephants and tourists,
especially along the Chobe River front in the
Caprivi Strip. A contractor with the World Wildlife
Foundation told EconOff that the overcrowding of
elephants in the Chobe area is a very difficult
issue facing environmentalist and policy-makers
alike, because it diverges from the "Save the
Elephants" slogan used so consistently in
fundraising campaigns. To make the complex argument
that countries and donors should support such
measures such as culling is difficult to sell
politically.


8. (U) The fact remains, however, that nearly
everyone agrees that there is an overpopulation of
elephants in the Chobe region, and the damage can be
seen easily through the impact on vegetation, which
appears sparse. One solution that was discussed for
easing the elephant population's impact is re-
opening the historic migratory avenues which run
through Angola and into western Zambia. The
principal impediment to this is the requirement to
speedily remove landmines from southeast Angola.
The overcrowding by elephants poses a dilemma for
tourism development, not only from their impact on
the environment, but also the possible danger
overcrowding could cause to tourists.


9. (SBU) Among the lodge owners in Kasane there is a
keen awareness of the growing overcrowding of
tourists along the Chobe River front and in the
northern end of the national park. Minister Mokaila
entertained a suggestion from one lodge owner to
restrict access to the national park for day-
trippers, requiring that they spend a minimum of one
night in Botswana to ensure that Botswana benefits
financially from their entry. This suggestion was
aimed at curbing visitors who are staying at lodges
in Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe, and which use the
national park in their advertising. The Minister
said he recognized the impact this has and committed
to making another trip up to the Kasane area to
discuss the issue in greater depth with all of the
lodge owners and operators.


10. (U) While the problem of tourist overcrowding is
a serious one, particularly given the "low impact"
strategy, the proposal to restrict day-trippers
could have a conversely negative impact on tourism
development in Botswana if Zimbabwe and Zambia were
to reciprocate concerning day-trippers from
Botswana's lodges visiting Victoria Falls. The most
effective strategy for dealing with tourist
overcrowding appears to be development of
alternative sites, products, and services.

Missing the Middle Market
--------------


11. (U) Botswana's tourism industry is heavily
concentrated in the north of the country on the
Kasane/Chobe area and the Okavango Delta, despite
the resources of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve,
the Makgadigadi Pans, and other destinations, which
cater primarily to camping and low-end market
tourism. These alternative sites also suffer from
the lack of transportation and services
infrastructure to support their development.


12. (U) Botswana is also missing out on developing
alternative products, such as those emphasizing
cultural or uniquely African experiences apart from
merely the wildlife attractions that dominate the
nation's tourism industry in the north. In addition
to generating new tourism products, this kind of
strategy might also help increase the local content
present at lodges and hotels, in terms of local
outsourcing of supplies, services and equipment, in
addition to crafts and goods to be sold in shops.
This could in turn maximize revenue retention in
Botswana.


13. (U) Opportunities to exploit upcoming events to
generate interest in these types of initiatives
exist, such as the Soccer World Cup to be held in
South Africa in 2010, but a clear strategy for
targeting these opportunities has not yet been
developed, and the range of tourism products does
not adequately deal with the potential demand.
Among the principal impediments to targeting the
middle market is precisely the lack of a national
tourism development plan, which could identify these
niche markets and work with the private sector to
develop them through incentive and infrastructure
plans.

Conclusion
--------------


14. (SBU) There are obviously serious impediments to
the development of Botswana's tourism market. But
Minister Mokaila seems to be genuinely committed to
addressing these issues, if incrementally. He
recognizes the variety of competing interests
involved in tourism development and environmental
management. The development of a national policy is
required. However, Minister Mokaila told the
Ambassador that he lamented his ministry's inability
to act quickly to implement environmental management
policies and tourism development projects.

Once Again, Overcentralization and Slow
Implementation
--------------

15. (SBU) Mokaila said the requirement to repeatedly
request funding from the Ministry of Finance for
each and every project slowed things down
considerably, and said he wished they would simply
allocate a budget to each Ministry for the projects
identified in the budget speech and national
development plan. With Botswana facing recurring
budget deficits, the Ministry of Finance seems to be
holding the purse strings very tightly to maintain
its well-earned national image of fiscal
responsibility. But the impact this has on the
speed of project implementation appears to warrant
reform.

HUGGINS