Africa-Press – Botswana. In a bid to diversify their revenue generating activities, several communities in Kgalagadi North have resorted to the provision of accommodation facilities, often times as sole providers of lodging facilities in their respective villages.
Operated by local Village Development Committees (VDCs), the guest houses have for many of the villages been a true blessing as they opened up less risky ways of bringing in revenue.
Unlike the conventional house rentals where tenants can default on rentals for months, guest houses have proven to be a quicker way of drawing in revenue for the VDCs.
“Our guest house has given our coffers a very significant boost and this is largely because our prices are quite reasonable,” Lokgwabe VDC chairperson, Mr Segopotso Babeele said in a recent interview.
Room rates at the Lokgwabe VDC guest house are P150 and P200 per night, with the difference in price being due to the size of beds in the rooms.
Information from Mr Babeele indicates that in good months the guest house can bring in up to P15 000 in a quarter, a figure that the VDC finds so encouraging that they are now planning to extend their facility.
“This guest house has the potential to earn us even more, and to tap into that potential, we intend to build another block of rooms,” he said, after explaining that they were also in the process of soon laying ceramic tiles and connecting internet to the existing facility to make stay more comfortable for their guests.
In Lehututu, where the local VDC also operates a guest house, the facility does not only address people’s needs for short-term stay but is also an integral revenue earner for the community.
Ms Kesegofetse Kgoreletso, secretary for the Lehututu VDC, views the guest house idea as sustainable and encourages other villages to consider adopting it.
“For some of our guests, a VDC running a guest house is very intriguing and they find it an idea worth exploring by their respective villages,” she said, attributing the increase in their customer base in recent years to word-of-mouth testimonies and customer reviews.
A member of the VDC, Mr Kenanao Paakanyo is optimistic that they will continue to grow in terms of attracting customers and he believes that their commitment to constantly improve their facility as well as the service they render will help them to attract more guests.
With the rooms priced at P200 and P250 per night, Mr Paakanyo’s view is that the modest rates ensure they receive a steady and constant flow of guests, breaking the cycle of the past years where they could go for weeks without a single guest.
Happy with the impact of their guest houses on their coffers, the two VDCs wish other villages across the country could be similarly innovative in coming up with ways of generating revenue.
And most important of all they say, is to make multiple sources of income to ensure a healthy balance sheet.
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