A partnership between Botswana Stock Exchange-listed tourism group Chobe Holdings and University of Botswana (UB) Tourism and Hospitality students is putting a practical face to the relationship between the country’s tourism industry, higher education and the communities that underpin the sector.
The partnership saw third-year UB students working with Chobe Game Lodge and residents of Lesoma village to refurbish the community’s Kgotla wall, donating paint and labour to the project on September 16.
For Chobe Holdings, whose tourism operations are embedded in some of Botswana’s most important wildlife destinations, the initiative provides a glimpse into a broader role for tourism companies beyond the traditional business of accommodation, safari operations and visitor experiences.
The Lesoma initiative brings together three elements of the tourism economy – an established tourism business, an institution producing the sector’s future workforce and a community located within Botswana’s tourism landscape.
The project formed part of an educational trip by UB’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, designed to expose students to sustainable tourism practice and give them direct interaction with industry stakeholders and communities.
Tourism lecturer Biki Basupi said the department’s annual educational tours are intended to complement classroom learning by exposing students to the realities of tourism development.
‘Engagements like this give students an opportunity to interact with real-world tourism practice away from the classroom,’ Basupi said. ‘They engage with stakeholders and gain firsthand insights into the opportunities and challenges shaping sustainable tourism development in Botswana and the region.’
Chobe Holdings Managing director – Lempheditse ‘MC’ Odumetse said that the UB – Chobe Game Lodge partnership added a practical community dimension to that learning experience.
Students contributed towards the initiative from their own living allowances, a gesture that was recognised by the area Member of Parliament, Simasiku Oscar Mapulanga, who also acknowledged Chobe Game Lodge’s contribution.
‘I sincerely commend the University of Botswana students for sacrificing part of their living allowances for this worthy cause,’ Mapulanga said, describing the initiative as an example of community participation.
Lesoma village chief Kgosi Lesoma B. Lesoma welcomed the contribution, describing September 16 as a day the village would remember because of the gesture by the students and Chobe Game Lodge.
The partnership was not limited to the Kgotla project. During the Chobe educational tour, students also engaged with the Kavango Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area Secretariat, gaining exposure to regional tourism development, conservation, destination branding and cross-border cooperation.
They also donated an infographic frame to the Lesoma Innovation Centre, a community-driven initiative focused on creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
For UB, the significance of the initiative lies in moving tourism education beyond theoretical instruction. Students were able to interact with communities, tourism operators and regional tourism institutions while seeing how tourism intersects with local development.
The broader question for Botswana’s tourism sector is whether such partnerships can become a more systematic bridge between companies, universities and communities, particularly as the industry seeks to increase the economic and social value retained locally.
The Lesoma project offers one example of that model in practice: students applying what they learn, a listed tourism company supporting a community initiative, and a destination community becoming part of the learning process.
‘Our Lesoma Kgotla project stands as a practical example of how education, partnership and community spirit can come together to create meaningful impact while preparing the next generation of tourism and hospitality professionals,’ said Naledi Stacy Jeji, a third-year Tourism and Hospitality student.
As Botswana continues to position tourism as an important contributor to economic diversification, such industry-academic-community partnerships could become an increasingly important part of how the sector develops its skills base, strengthens destination communities and translates tourism activity into broader local value.