Will Botswana tourism suffers under World Cup?
The Soccer World Cup has dealt Botswana tourism a serious blow, according to a Maun newspaper.
The Ngami Times website reported it was very expensive to fly into Botswana from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
Botswana relies on this airport for international tourist arrivals.
The newspaper said most lodges in Botswana had no foreign guests arriving during June and July when the world soccer tournament takes place in South Africa.
“[The World Cup poses] a serious challenge to the industry as visitors are not able to travel to Botswana due to the non-availability of flights,” said Beks Ndlovu, of African Bush Camps, on the sidelines of a seminar of local and German tour operators hosted in Maun last week.
Jo'berg Airport
Few flights were available and those available were pricey, he said.
Derek Flatt, of Desert and Delta Safaris, agreed with Ndlovu, but pointed out that the event was a good marketing exercise for the southern African region
“The success of the World Cup in South Africa will mean big publicity for the region and that means we also stand to benefit in the long term,” Flatt said. Meanwhile, some operators have blamed the international football organisation, FIFA, for the problem, saying block bookings with airlines have failed to fill planes and, as a result, airlines hiked their prices considerably for the unfilled seats. They also feel FIFA should have ascertained the number of seats it wanted before doing block bookings.
One anonymous source said FIFA did the bookings “in Mafia style” to convince airlines that their aircraft will be filled and this is costing other stakeholders.
Tourism operators differed on whether the situation would have been better if Botswana had implemented an open skies policy. Flatt feels the situation could still be the same because facilities here would allow fewer aircraft from abroad, depending on the sizes of planes to land, and passengers would also have filled aircraft coming directly to Botswana than those going through Johannesburg. “However, the WC aside, the liberalisation of air transport in Botswana will be a great development for the country and in particular the industry,” he said.
The director of Safari Destinations, Carina Grueninger, told The Ngami Times that one of the biggest challenges they face in the industry is to bring people into the country, especially as only Air Botswana operates the routes from South Africa. She said if the skies could be opened up, and other transportations facilities improved, the industry would be placed on a very completive edge for it to grow.
