Gov�t called to review Tourism Policy

Isaac Pinielo | Friday June 23, 2017 14:25

While it analyses the tourism value chain, the report says the tourism policy, developed in 1990, has been in place for over 25 years, noting that some areas are less relevant to the current tourism market.

It highlighted that there are also regulations that are creating barriers to entry for small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs), preventing some small-scale operators to be involved in the tourism sector.

“This especially applies to environmental impact assessments, which need to be completed before permission can be granted to develop a business,” the report says.

The study further noted that government’s tourism policy has been established with an emphasis on the protection of natural resources and ensuring a low volume or high yield strategy.

It called for harmonisation of the tourism policy with other policies and laws, including land use, transport and communications, trade laws, as well as citizen empowerment.

In addition, the study assesses the present situation of the tourism sector and analyses the competitive constraints, with particular emphasis to the development of the Kasane area, which has been identified as a priority for tourism development within the country.According to the report, a comprehensive roadmap to capacitate value chain actors has been laid down, with actions including, amongst others, a competitive and sustainable tourism sector that provides easily accessible high-quality products and services.

The report also calls for the development of heritage and cultural products, and maximisation of the amount of tourism expenditure in the local economy through SMMEs.

It also focused on projects with critical mass of investment with a view to attract foreign investors.

Meanwhile, the head of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) regional office for Southern Africa, Sid Boubekeur said Botswana has a comparative advantage in the tourism sector compared to other developing countries.

“One key aspect is the country’s efforts to support sustainable tourism activities that promote environment awareness, as well as conserve and protect the environment with respect to wildlife, flora, ecosystems and cultural diversity, and improve the welfare and livelihoods of local communities by supporting their local economies and the human and natural environment as a whole,” he said.

Boubekeur said the successful implementation of the laid out actions would require support and commitment from all stakeholders to ensure that the industry is able to provide competitive and high quality products and services.

He said skills development must take place in a systematic way, adding that this will also contribute to fulfilling the country’s mandate of economic diversification with strong focus on job creation.