23 Nov 2016

Vice President Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has hailed the tourism sector for its contribution to the country’s economy. The sector, he said, was the second largest contributor to GDP and service sector and had recorded the largest growth in jobs created.

Officially opening Travel Lodge in Gaborone on Tuesday November 22, Mr Masisi said the need to put in place an enabling environment in which the private sector could function effectively and profitably could not be understated.

“Tourism is cross cutting thereby requiring several sectors of the economy to perform in alignment to the national tourism vision. In this regard, the government will continue to harmonise its policies, legislation and initiatives to ensure that tourism is facilitated in the best way possible,” he said.

Mr Masisi stated that “there are a total of 80 licensed hotels in Botswana, 41 of them are owned by citizens, 21 non-citizens and 18 joint ventures. The hotels have created 11 604 jobs.”

He said the construction of the 2 Star Travel Lodge started in 2014 and was completed in 2016. It has a conference facility that can seat up to 800 people, 115 rooms, a gym and three executive board rooms.

Meanwhile, Mr Masisi said since there was high growth in tourism sector and fierce competition both regionally and internationally, Travel Lodge management should differentiate their product offering to project a distinct image of uniqueness and quality holiday experience that Botswana was renowned for globally.

Furthermore, he reminded the management that being a service sector, their success would be predicated on the quality of staff that they had. On that note, he urged them to invest relentlessly in their development.

The government has created the Tourism Industry Training Fund to assist in this regard and it could be used for the training of employees at basic, intermediate and managerial level, he said.

For his part, one of Travel Lodge directors, Mr Gaurang Mooney said they intend to open another Travel Lodge in Kasane by December and thereafter open another in Ghanzi followed by Palapye in the near future.

He said Botswana was driven by tourism sector which has the potential for growth if harnessed properly and expressed hope that government would continue be supportive of the sector.BOPA