25 Nov 2013

Boteti North MP, Mr Slumber Tsogwane has commended government for instituting initiatives aimed at improving the participation of Batswana in the tourism industry.

Responding to the President Lt. Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s State-of-the-Nation Address in Parliament, Mr Tsogwane said President Khama’s continuous update about the progress and achievements of government showed that democracy prevailed in Botswana.

Mr Tsogwane said since economic diversification was  one of the government’s main priorities, it was very important for the initiative to be driven mainly by citizens.

He also noted with concern that as at the end of April 2013, there were 847 licensed tourism enterprises, out of which 473 were wholly owned by citizens.

Although he said it was commendable that the number had increased by 67 from the previous year, Mr Tsogwane said it was worrying that 144 of these enterprises were joint ventures whilst 220 were non-citizen owned.

“We want to see Batswana controlling the cream of that industry. We also want to see the number of joint ventures exceeding the number of the non-citizen owned enterprises. That is what will make us happy,” he added.

For this to be realised, Mr Tsogwane said government should ensure that there was skills transfer in the tourism industry, so that many Batswana benefit from the industry. ENDS