News

Maun Experience Hailed

Boniface Keakabetse | Monday February 3, 2014 16:09

 

 

The operators say due to lack of activities to attract foreign and local tourists,  currently Maun misses out on the tourism cake as it only serves as a gateway for tourists visiting the Okavango Delta.  The Maun Experience started in 2012 when Batswana entertainment companies, 63Entertainment and DOC Entertainment, in partnership with Maun entertainment companies, hosted exciting events in the tourism town over the festive season.
For two years  the Maun Experience has seen a litany of events from football matches to entertainment shows hosted in a in a bid to attract Batswana to travel locally.Speaking in an interview with The Monitor, Maun Lodge Managing Director Alfredo Rannoba, heaped praise on the 2013 Maun Experience for it role in promoting local tourism in the town. Rannoba said hordes of tourists who attended the scheduled Maun Experience activities over the festive season fully booked Maun Lodge.
'We were fully booked from December 29 to January, 2, 2014' he said, adding that 'the Maun Experience is a wonderful concept that answers a worrying concern about lack of activities locally that leave  Batswana with no choice but to visit regional destinations.'  However, Ngonidzashe Shumba MD of Rileys Hotel shared mixed reactions about the Maun Experience saying their rooms were only 70 percent occupied compared to last year when more visitors came.  He said he is hopeful of a positive effect in 2014 festive season. Khwai, Savuti, Linyanti (SKL) Safaris, Managing Director Reaboka Mbulawa however opines that investment is still needed in the Maun Hotel infrastructure to attract tourists. Mbulawa said the accommodation facilities in Maun are below  par compared to those in the bush camps of the Okavango Delta.' He said currently Maun loses more than P14 million annually from tourists who could  be spending a night there before flying out to the delta.' Mbulawa said Maun has to be turned into a town to fast track its transition to a tourist hub.
When it is such, Mbulawa says innovations like the Maun Experience will be easily entrenched. 'This place has potential to compete with Victoria Falls, Swapkomound or Cape Town, all we need to do is to turn it in to a town and the rest will follow,' he said.

The operators say due to lack of activities to attract foreign and local tourists,  currently Maun misses out on the tourism cake as it only serves as a gateway for tourists visiting the Okavango Delta.  The Maun Experience started in 2012 when Batswana entertainment companies, 63Entertainment and DOC Entertainment, in partnership with Maun entertainment companies, hosted exciting events in the tourism town over the festive season.

For two years  the Maun Experience has seen a litany of events from football matches to entertainment shows hosted in a in a bid to attract Batswana to travel locally.Speaking in an interview with The Monitor, Maun Lodge Managing Director Alfredo Rannoba, heaped praise on the 2013 Maun Experience for it role in promoting local tourism in the town. Rannoba said hordes of tourists who attended the scheduled Maun Experience activities over the festive season fully booked Maun Lodge.

'We were fully booked from December 29 to January, 2, 2014' he said, adding that 'the Maun Experience is a wonderful concept that answers a worrying concern about lack of activities locally that leave  Batswana with no choice but to visit regional destinations.'  However, Ngonidzashe Shumba MD of Rileys Hotel shared mixed reactions about the Maun Experience saying their rooms were only 70 percent occupied compared to last year when more visitors came.  He said he is hopeful of a positive effect in 2014 festive season. Khwai, Savuti, Linyanti (SKL) Safaris, Managing Director Reaboka Mbulawa however opines that investment is still needed in the Maun Hotel infrastructure to attract tourists. Mbulawa said the accommodation facilities in Maun are below  par compared to those in the bush camps of the Okavango Delta.' He said currently Maun loses more than P14 million annually from tourists who could  be spending a night there before flying out to the delta.' Mbulawa said Maun has to be turned into a town to fast track its transition to a tourist hub.

When it is such, Mbulawa says innovations like the Maun Experience will be easily entrenched. 'This place has potential to compete with Victoria Falls, Swapkomound or Cape Town, all we need to do is to turn it in to a town and the rest will follow,' he said.