Bostwana, a Jewel in the Southern Region of Africa Ready for Tourism Summit
Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana stands out as a reference in sustainable tourism in Africa. 37% of its land are protected as national parks or wildlife management areas to preserve the country’s wildlife and rich natural treasures.
Discover tourism investment opportunities at the first-ever Botswana Tourism Investment Summit jointly organized by the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) and International Tourism Investment Corporation Ltd (ITIC) and in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) , a member of the World Bank Group will take place on 22 to 24 November 2023 at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC), Botswana.
The summit will consist of sessions focusing on key challenges and trends and will act as a catalyst to have a transformational change in the tourism landscape of Botswana.
Botswana is hailed as one of the pioneer countries of sustainable tourism policies and practices in Africa. It established a National Ecotourism Strategy as early as in 2002, making it one of the globally acknowledged sustainable tourism destinations.
In the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO Heritage World Site and its surroundings, for instance, the safari camps and lodges preserve the environment so that the future generations and the local communities can continue to enjoy and benefit from sustainable commercial operations.
In parallel, local communities are supported especially in the rural areas to reap the benefits of ecotourism initiatives and infrastructure, thus, contributing to support social inclusion and economic development country-wide.
In addition, part of the revenues generated by tourism-related activities are re-invested in conservation programmes.
Wildlife sanctuaries have been created to save several endangered species such as rhinos and protect free-roaming elephant herds from poachers.
A carefully planned approach to tourism which has led this industry to become over the years the second pillar of the economy of Botswana and the destination to be for the discerning international travellers!
The country is now home to one of the largest populations of elephants in an African state, with more than 200,000.
Moreover, as part of the Botswana National Ecotourism Strategy (2002), an Ecotourism Certification System has been rolled out to encourage but also, to support responsible environmental, social and cultural behaviour by businesses operating in the country’s tourism industry and to ensure that they provide quality eco-friendly products to consumers.
Key environmentally responsible standards have been set for businesses to comply with or even exceed them.
The approach of the Government of Botswana has since been aiming at attracting high-income, low volume tourism so as to minimise the impact on the natural landscape and heritage of the country.
