03 Jun 2024

The newly established 390 Vision Company has introduced the first-ever travel and tourism podcast initiative, with the aim of promoting tourism in Botswana to a global audience.

The youth-owned subsidiary of Okavango is Calling, founded by Mr Thato Sebati, intends to feature various tourism entities such as lodges, hotels, tour operators, polers, and creative artists through wilderness interviews.

The recent launch event, which took place at the Shorobe boat station, saw the coordinator of economic empowerment in the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Mr Thatayaone Molefhi, commending Mr Sebati’s efforts. He highlighted the potential of podcasting in educating visitors about the offerings of a destination.

The theme of the event, “Promotion of Travel and Tourism Through the Digital Space, emphasise the innovative approach of utilising podcasting to showcase the industry. Mr Molefhi stressed the importance of leveraging digital tools for entrepreneurs to reach a wider audience and stay competitive in today’s technological era.

Mr Molefhi further noted that the government had provided an enabling environment for such types of businesses by building digital infrastructure citing Smart Bots project as a classic example.

His ministry, he said regards youth as a tremendous and essential asset that needed to be facilitated to access labour market, services and decision making processes noting that the ministry sought inclusion and ensure their participation in the social and economic spheres hence they supported the launch of the auspicious event.

He appreciated that the initiative would also be a great opportunity to boost community pride and foster resident sentiments of the destination.

Professor Joseph Mbaiwa of Okavango Research Institute (ORI) also appreciated the initiative saying it was time for the youth to show the country’s tourism. Everything that was done in the tourism industry, he said should be digital to be seen and appreciated by the global community.

“The moment you put something in the internet, people in America, Japan or elsewhere could see and the use of technology is very powerful to enhance marketing of products and services,” he added.

Prof. Mbaiwa spoke of cultural tourism saying some countries met in Rio in 1982 to discuss sustainable development concept which he said also applied in tourism.

A more sustainable tourism, he said took into account economic, social, cultural and environment aspects. Tourism, he said had three pillars namely the ecological sustainability which calls for utilisation of the environment in a sustainable manner noting that natural resources should be preserved.

He said the second pillar was the  economic efficiency stating that it meant tourism should generate profits that benefit the destination area as well as the country. where tourism was undertaken.

“Since we are here in Shorobe, the concept means that tourism here should benefit the community. There should be equity and fairness in distributing the economic benefits,” he added.

Prof. Mbaiwa further highlighted that Ngamiland region had a lot to offer in terms of promoting cultural tourism citing the usage traditional canoes commonly known as mekoro saying in the past, it was a mode of transport and today, most of the tourists liked to traverse the Okavango Delta using mekoro made of wood.

In addition, he said traditional apparel, food and music and dance could also promote cultural tourism citing that Ngamiland community had a unique dish namely water lily which he said could be mixed with meat to become a delicacy.

Additionally,  he said the region had a diverse ethnic groups with a rich and unique cultures that could be showcased to the visitors.

For his part, 390 Vision Company director, Mr Sebati expressed his gratitude for the support received in launching both the company and the podcast, aiming to showcase Botswana’s tourism offerings to a broad audience. He highlighted UNESCO’s sponsorship, acknowledging the significance of taking tourism into the digital realm.

I am the first Motswana to be sponsored by UNESCO because it appreciated the value of what I was doing to the community. We are living in the era of technology and they assisted them to take our tourism to the digital space,” he added.

 Through this initiative, he plans to feature tourism leaders, conduct interviews, and shed light on the community aspect of tourism activities.

Initially, he said he wanted to launch at Shakawe where the Okavango panhandle starts but his request was rejected because of ecological sensitivity of the area and was advised to do it in Maun as it was the tourism hub.

Mr Sebati said through his initiative, he would be profiling tourism enterprises leaders, interview them together with their clients and the community in which the tourism would be undertaken.  ENDS