The Vice President and also the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ndaba Nkosinathi Gaolathe, yesterday officially opened the on-going Tourism Pitso in Francistown. The Pitso has attracted many stakeholders from different sectors.
Mr. Gaolathe said following the last Tourism Pitso held in 2013, this time around the Pitso comes with clear and renewed purpose with a shared responsibility to reflect honestly on the state of the tourism sector and to chart a bold, fair, and future-focused path. He further indicated that tourism is more than just an industry in our country; it is a pillar of our socio-economic transformation, which must usher in an era of shared prosperity. The VP further indicated that the Government of Botswana launched the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP) in 2025, with the primary objective of accelerating economic transformation and reducing dependency on mineral exports.
The BETP identified economic priority sectors such as the development of a National Tourism Strategy and Master Plan, which aims to increase the number of tourism-related jobs. The strategy is pivoted on four pillars, namely, enabling environment, marketing and branding, product development and diversification, and infrastructure support services.
Tourism has been identified as one of the biggest contributors to Botswana’s economy and initiatives such as the development of monuments and preservation of heritage sites, improvement of aviation facilities and the improvement of ICT infrastructure have been identified to take tourism to greater heights.
Mr. Gaolathe indicated that government is actively implementing a wide range of reforms to ensure that the tourism sector becomes an anchor towards economic diversification, citizen empowerment and sustainable development.
He encouraged the delegates to build a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready tourism sector and to make Botswana a model of ethical tourism and sustainable growth. He further indicated that this could be achieved by cutting leakages, increasing, and retaining tourism value in the country by ensuring that we secure more jobs, and build stronger communities, with lasting benefits for fellow citizens.
