Botswana tourism to benefit from EU funding
Botswana is expected to immensely benefit under the 11th European Development Fund ( EDF) Regional Indicative Programme 2021- 2027 for the Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and Indian Ocean ( EA- SA- IO) region.
The new EU Head of Cooperation, Clement Boutillier says the EU has agreed to fund a broad multi- country action entitled, ‘ Support to Job Creation and the Investment Climate’ which aims at improving the business environment and investment climate in EA- SA- IO region.
Botswana benefits from this programme, adapted to the country’s national priorities and challenges, by supporting the Government’s ambitions to turn its mineral- dependent economy into a diversified, export- led, knowledge- based economy. “The Ministry of Trade and Industry ( MTI) is the main government counterpart and Technical Beneficiary, alongside collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism ( MET), while the contracting authority is the Delegation of the European Union ( EUD) to Botswana and SADC.
“Among a large array of activities, the interventions for the MET entail support to the CBNRM development around the country and assists Botswana Tourism Organisation in reorganising its tasks and responsibilities for effective promotion and marketing of the country,” Boutillier said at the Tourism Satellite Account Workshop in Gaborone.
He stated that Botswana possesses some of the best wilderness and wildlife areas on the African continent. The country, he said, is home to spectacular untouched landscapes and numerous endangered bird and mammal species.
Boutillier told the workshop that most of the national parks, reserves and wildlife management areas, which cover about 38 percent of the country’s total land area, are unfenced, allowing animals to roam wild and free. He said this is the main attraction for most safari tourists.
According to Boutillier, the conservation and preservation of its unique natural assets and biodiversity are therefore key to Botswana’s tourism industry. “But as we are all aware, since 2020, we’re living now in a very difficult international context; COVID19, climate change, war in Ukraine leading to an energy crisis, recession.
“On a tourism point of view, that means that the competition is fierce, at international and national levels to attract more demanding visitors; customers will be more reluctant than ever to spend their money for purpose and for what they really want, with a stronger concern about the environment”.
He said that the five new priorities of the Government’s Reset Agenda include Value chain development and Digitalisation.
“They are the priorities of our tourism project, with digitalisation of the whole tourism infrastructure”, he said.
He explained that in order to develop ecotourism and tourism as an entire connected industry, for the inbound and the domestic markets, there is a need to precisely know these markets, their specific interests, their new consumption patterns and their expectations in terms of activities and services. He stated that the Tourism Satellite Account ( TSA) is a standard statistical framework and the main tool for the economic measurement of tourism.
It has been developed by the World Tourism Organisation ( UNWTO), the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development ( OECD), the Statistical Office of the European Communities ( Eurostat) and the United Nations Statistics Division, Boutillier added.
According to EU head of cooperation, the presentation of this fourth Tourism Satellite Account compilation 2019 for Botswana, with previous TSAs being compiled for the years 2006, 2009 and 2016 is important for all the stakeholders giving reliable data and a basis for product development and promotion.
“The TSA for 2019 shows that tourism contributed 5.1 percent to GDP, generating direct gross value added of Pula 9.1 billion. Tourism accounted for 7.9 percent of all employed persons in Botswana, or 58,420 employees. “The National Tourism Strategy and Tourism Development Master Plan for Botswana: 2022- 2032, elaborated by UNWTO which should be validated soon, with this TSA, will greatly assist the MET in the revival of its tourism industry.”