Botswana Tourism

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Tourism and wildlife are inextricably linked within Botswana. With 17% of the territory proclaimed protected area and an additional 20% Wildlife Management Area, the country offers a wide variety of striking landscapes (e.g. Okavango Delta, Kalahari desert, Chobe river and the Makgadikgadi Pans) and some of the largest populations of wildlife species found in Africa. The latest nationwide elephant count in 1999 estimates 120,000 elephants.

Tourism has shown a steady increase over the past few years, with holiday arrivals rising from 106,800 in 1995 to 184,475 in 1997. The industry's contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has risen correspondingly, with gross visitor expenditure estimated to be BWP 1.1 billion in 1997. Of that sum BWP 780 million is estimated to have been lost to the country through payment to external agents and import leakage, leaving BWP 320 million input into Botswana's economy. This represents a 4.5% increase from 1996, and, as holiday arrivals are forecast to increase annually by 10% over the period 1997 - 2020, the industry's contribution seems set to continue to rise.

An additional contribution of around BWP 800 million is made to the economy resulting from the direct expenditure as it filters through the different economic sectors. As a result, tourism is recognised to be a significant contributor to the country's GDP (4.5%). Tourism is also the second largest export sector after diamonds and is worth BWP 495 million in foreign receipts. It is also estimated that tourism provides employment for nearly 10,000 people in Botswana.

Wildlife and the wilderness experience, are by far Botswana's biggest holiday attractions, which is reflected in the fact that visitor numbers to the country's protected areas increased from 101,125 in 1995 to 159,621 in 1998, a rise of 63%. The main attractions are the national parks in the northern part of the country.

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Botswana Tourism