BOTSWANA: Poachers Kill Close To 100 Elephants For Ivory

Gaborone, Botswana: Ninety elephant carcasses have been discovered in Botswana with their tusks hacked off, a charity said on Tuesday, in what is believed to be one of Africa's worst mass poaching sprees.

Most of the animals killed were large bulls carrying heavy tusks, Elephants Without Borders said.

The grim discovery was made over several weeks during an aerial survey by Elephants Without Borders and Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

We started flying the survey on July 10, and we have counted 90 elephant carcasses since the survey commenced, Mike Chase, the charity director, said.

Each day we are counting dead elephants, he added.

The animals were shot with heavy calibre rifles at watering spots near a popular wildlife sanctuary in the Okavango Delta.

The scale of elephant poaching is by far the largest I have seen or read about in Africa to date, Chase said.

The poaching coincided with the disarming earlier this year of Botswana's rangers, according to Chase.

The number of African elephants has fallen by around 111,000 to 415,000 in the past decade, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The killing continues at a dizzying pace of about 30,000 elephants a year to meet demand for ivory in Asia, where tusks sell for around $1,000 (Dh3,673) a kilo.

Chase said elephants in Zambia and Angola, north of Botswana, have been poached to the verge of local extinction, and poachers have now turned to Botswana.

Botswana Tourism Minister Tshekedi Khama confirmed that dozens of elephants had been poached, but gave no further details.

The government was not immediately available to comment on rangers being apparently disarmed earlier this year.

Botswana previously had a zero-tolerance approach to poaching, with a shoot-to-kill policy against poachers.

Poachers have also targeted rhino, said Chase, after six white rhino carcasses were found in recent months.


Tourism Observer

BOTSWANA: Botswana Tourism Levy Suspended,Avani Gaborone Resort And Casino For Refurbishment

The Botswana Tourism Organisation has put on hold the implementation of the tourism development levy, which was scheduled to go into effect on June 1 this year.

An announcement on a new date is expected in two weeks.

The $30 (€27) levy will be payable at all ports of entry, including airports and border posts, through electronic payment machines, cash, and debit and credit cards.

The objective of the levy is to raise funds for conservation and natural tourism development.

Minor Hotels will invest $7 million in refurbishment of Avani Gaborone Resort and Casino in Botswana. The renovation has already commenced, with completion expected at the beginning of September.

All guest bedrooms and public spaces are being renovated and will include Avani’s signature design hallmarks.

The hotel will be adding on an additional four guest rooms. Once renovations have been completed, the resort will offer 198 keys in total.

The layout of the guest bedrooms and bathrooms are being redesigned, ensuring optimal use of space. The contemporary, fresh design will offer a media hub and large plasma television screens.

The main entrance and porte cochère will also be completely remodelled.

Existing lobby walls are to be demolished and the ceiling raised, allowing in natural light. A pantry is being introduced, where guests can eat, grab a quick bite, or stock up their mini bars.

The conservatory will provide an informal, communal eating area, with wicker seating, punkah fans, and parquet flooring.

Botswana’s Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism is currently amending the grading process.

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism Tshekedi Khama said changes include performing the grading process annually instead of every two years.

Khama said the ministry observed that quality of products declines in between gradings.

He further said tourism facilities and products in the country’s urban areas do not match the standard of those in the wilderness areas.

Sanctuary Retreats have started work on monitoring the growing rhino population in the Moremi Reserve, Botswana.

As part of this project Sanctuary Retreats have hired two Monitoring Assistants, Ollie and Kandu.

Both will be based at Sanctuary Chief’s Camp and will cover the Moremi Game Reserve area. Guests staying at this camp will have the opportunity to speak with Ollie and Kandu to find out how the Okavango Delta’s rhino population is doing.

By monitoring and studying the behaviour of the rhino, the team hope to learn more about their territories, foraging and breeding habits, this will help determine what effect the translocation project has had on the rhino and the area, and also find out if the area can handle more rhino.

Ollie and Kandu have been trained by both the Mombo Rhino Monitoring Team and the Botswana Anti-Poaching Unit.

Botswana’s Minister of Environment and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama, has revealed that his ministry has acquired P45 million (€4m) to develop the Maun Educational Park.

In an interview, Khama said the money would be used to develop tourism facilities but that he was not in position to state what facilities would be built, saying they were planning to change the park’s original plan.

Khama said initially a casino, eco lodge and a five-star hotel were planned on the site, but he indicated that the plan was likely to be changed. “We may decide that the park should remain as a wildlife park which has accommodation. We want this park to also reflect the culture of the people in Maun.”

He said a tender would be circulated to the private sector after finalisation of the latest plan for the operation of the facilities.

The park was established in 1970 and is situated on a strategic zone within the Thamalakane river front, an area that has been earmarked as a tourism development zone under the revised Maun development plan.

BOTSWANA: Botswana In Berlin Gets Up Southern Africa Tourism

Southern Africa’s tourism industry is expected to receive a large boost with the news that South African neighbouring country Botswana has pulled “a fast one on other African tourist destinations” by becoming the first country on the continent to become a partner of the largest travel trade show in the world, ITB Berlin 2017.

The breakthrough follows an exclusive agreement between the world’s leading travel trade show and Botswana. The agreement was signed by Botswana Tourism Minister H E Tshekedi Khama II and Dr Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH.

According to Tshekedi Khama, the Botswana Tourism Organisation has taken the opportunity to become the partner country of ITB Berlin 2017 to be able to share Botswana and Southern Africa’s nature conservation achievements with the rest of the world. The gateway to Botswana is South Africa as most international airlines fly via OR Tambo International Airport in Gauging, with many western tourists expected to spend some time in South Africa as well.

“Botswana’s role as the partner country of the world’s largest travel trade show will ensure the long-term attention of the global tourism industry.”

Pan-African website AfriTree.com quotes David Ruetz, head of ITB Berlin, who said Botswana is Africa’s best-kept secret. Two contrasting natural features characterise this country: the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Basin with its many animal species, large forests, and innumerable streams that empty into small lakes.”

He said the partnership will not only place the spotlight on Botswana’s tourism successes but will also focus attention worldwide on the ITB’s potential for economic development.

“In the past Botswana has achieved great success that has remained largely unnoticed around the world. Botswana will also benefit from this year’s 50th anniversary of ITB Berlin,” said Tshekedi Khama. “Numerous activities and events will give us the opportunity to market and promote our country as a tourism destination and to improve our returns on investment.”

In 2016 Botswana celebrated 50 years of independence. Often referred to as one of the last remaining gems of Africa, the country was quick to realise its potential as a tourism destination. The Republic of Botswana has been exhibiting at ITB Berlin every year since 1984, in an aim to make people around the world aware of its special attractions.

At ITB Berlin 2017 Botswana, as the partner country of the show, will be organising the opening event on 7 March 2017, and from 8 to 12 March 2017 will be entertaining visitors to ITB Berlin with a wide-ranging programme of events.

BOTSWANA: Explore Botswana

The Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism has urged those tasked with selling, marketing and promoting tourism destinations to travel and fully explore the country so to know more about Botswana.

Minister Tshekedi Khama was speaking at the official opening of this year’s Tourism Expo Botswana which has attracted exhibitors from countries such as India, Zambia, Iran and South Africa.

Mr Khama said it was imperative that as nations existing in the global village to continuously create and reinvent platforms in which they can promote tourism in their own unique and respective ways.

“Every nation has something unique and wonderful to offer the world and it is for this reason that those tasked with promoting their national tourism heritage should do so diligently,” said the minister.

Further, Mr Khama said successful tourism ventures relied on getting the masses of people to experience what each destination had to offer.

Without enhancing the people’s desire to explore, he said nations cannot significantly build the tourism industry to a point that added onto national economies.

Also, he noted that people were the bloodline for successful tourism and those tasked with selling, marketing and promoting nations’ respective destinations needed to always bear that in mind.

On the other hand, the minister was impressed that Botswana as one of the premium destinations in the world has joined in the global trend of hosting trade and consumer expos designed to create and reinforce awareness.

Nonetheless, Tourism Expo Botswana provides a vital marketing and networking platform for local Botswana tourism suppliers and stakeholders as they are able to interact and create business links with regional and international tourism suppliers.

The expo is a consumer and trade based marketing platform and was held under the theme “Bringing Tourism to the people.” Ends