In a recent interview with Setlang Keitumetse, the Acting CEO of Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO), a clear vision emerged for the future of tourism in Botswana. Keitumetse outlined the organization’s multifaceted approach,incorporating diversification, infrastructure development, and local empowerment to propel Botswana’s tourism industry to new heights.
At the ongoing World Travel Market Africa, Keitumetse emphasized the importance of promoting Botswana as a tourism destination. She said,
“We are here, obviously,to sell packages to Botswana, targeting both the regional and international markets.Particularly, we’re keen on the South African market, being closer to home and one we aim to enhance travel from into Botswana. Moreover, it’s a market with a strong interest in events, making it an ideal platform for promoting Botswana’s events and leisure travel opportunities.”
According to Keitumetse, diversifying the tourism product is a key strategy for the BTO, with a particular focus on positioning Botswana as a MICE destination. She explained,
“We are all about MICE. We are going all out to position Botswana as a MICE destination. We’re actively promoting Botswana as a MICE destination, and our MICE strategy is now underway after its recent conclusion. It’s already out, and we’ve begun rolling it out and implementing it. We’re excited about hosting several high-profile events in Botswana, including the Forbes Under 30 event from May 5th to 8th, for the third time. Additionally, we’re gearing up for the Khawa Dune Challenge in the first week of May, along with the Makgadikgadi Epic skydiving event.”
In addition, the acting CEO highlighted infrastructure development is essential to support the organization’s ambitious goals. Keitumetse stressed the government’s commitment to facilitating infrastructure development. She said,
“Government is committed to facilitating MICE by ensuring infrastructure, including conferencing facilities and roads, is put in place. Yes, we have infrastructure that’s good enough to host what we are able to host now, but the plan is to expand the infrastructure that we currently have and to tweak conferencing facilities to increase, reshape, and repurpose them. This ensures that we are able to host events that we are targeting to host this year and also grow our infrastructure going forward to ensure that we are able to host much bigger events.”
Furthermore, Keitumetse added that local participation and empowerment are integral to the BTO’s strategy.
“It’s important to always have locals participating in tourism, not just in numbers but in terms of value as well. So what we are doing now is ensuring that we strike a balance between foreign direct investment and local citizen participation in tourism. We have been implementing the community-based natural resource management strategy, which recognizes and appreciates that we depend mainly as a country on natural resources and that people living side-by-side with these resources tend to contribute more to conservation when they see the value they draw from them. The Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM)policy, we are implementing in Botswana seeks to ensure that we get more participation and value from the locals.”
Keitumetse stressed BTO aims to surpass tourism numbers from 2019 by 2025. She said,
“We are currently at 75% of the 2019 numbers, looking at extrapolated numbers. But the idea is to surpass 2019 by 2025; that is where the world is going, and we seem to be doing very well in terms of that. Our interest is to see us surpassing 2019 numbers, not just in terms of arrivals, but also in terms of tourism revenue and the increase in length of stay.”
In her final words, Keitumetse gave a clarion call to all to come and experience Botswana for themselves and all it has to offer.
“Botswana is the destination to visit. Botswana is a destination compared to none, with attractions like the Okavango Delta, providing water activities, and the Chobe, home to the largest head of elephants globally. The Tuli offers rocky terrain, while the Kalahari boasts sand sporting activities. The tranquil and experiential destination that Botswana offers is where the world should be going for relaxation,” she said.
