14 Apr 2021

With the adoption of the revised Tourism Policy, approved by Parliament on Wednesday, government seeks to improve the position of Botswana as a tourist destination of choice and to enhance the sector as a major economic activity.

This was stated  by the Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Ms Philda Kereng when she presented the policy, before it was passed by the National Assembly.

Ms Kereng said this was a revised version of the 1990 Tourism Policy, which had since been found to be outdated and not in line with the latest developments regarding the global competitiveness of Brand Botswana.

Among the key challenges the policy seeks to address, Ms Kereng said included limited citizen participation, inter institutional weaknesses, inadequate resources and limited access to infrastructure.

Economic leakages, weaknesses in tourism planning including marketing and branding, limited direct air travel and difficult road access to some domestic tourist destinations were among the other challenges, Ms Kereng said needed to be addressed.

In order to address these factors to enhance tourism and build its resilience, the revised policy proposes to enhance domestic tourist product development, facilitating Batswana to be able to brand and market their country to the nation’s collective benefit, she said.

The policy would also facilitate the formation of tourism clusters in different areas of the country; address land related bottlenecks, and empower domestic entrepreneurs, Ms Kereng said.

The government seeks to diversify the tourist product by developing new attractions to entice tourists to other various parts of the country by promoting cultural tourism among other packages, she added.

The government further looks to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) encourage the public floating of shares in order for Batswana to be able to acquire a stake in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Ms Kereng added that the policy would also address community participation, encourage citizen participation in the various activities in the tourism value chain and facilitate public private partnerships, with a view of creating 40 000 jobs in the tourism sector by 2030. Ends