Lessons from KwaZulu-Natal for Botswana’s tourism future

Sharon Mathala | Monday May 26, 2025 18:03

As I watched KZN confidently sell its story, I found myself reflecting deeply not just on the experiences I was having, but on what Botswana could be if we embraced tourism the way South Africa has, especially in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal.

“Come Find Your Joy” is the tagline South African Tourism uses and after spending a few days in KZN, I couldn’t find a more fitting phrase. Joy was not only found in the high adrenaline experiences like shark cage diving or flying over the Indian Ocean on a microflight, joy was present in the Zulu stories told with pride, in the cuisine and in how seamlessly the past and present come together to welcome visitors.

Their tourism is not just a static product, a re-told product. It is a living and breathing experience. It struck me again and again, how every element of KZN has been crafted into a story. The people are the storytellers, the landscape is the stage and the economy surprisingly is booming.

South Africa, and KZN in particular, has mastered the art of experiential tourism. It’s not just about wildlife safaris or luxury getaways (yes those are available because there is everything for everyone) but It’s about engaging the senses, making tourism accessible and telling the kind of stories that stick with visitors even long after they leave. It surely has stuck with me.

For many, traditional tourism luxury lodges, game drives and five-star experiences are financially and emotionally out of reach, but KZN showed that you can promote experience instead of exclusivity. A quad bike through a forest, a township walk with a local guide, or even a cooking class with the Gogo in her kitchen and all such are not expensive but they are unforgettable experiences as one has the opportunity to listen and feel the conversation, as opposed to listening to a guide, who often feels like they are parroting words from a text book.



And then I think of home Botswana, my home country. A country often seen through the singular lens of the Okavango Delta, globally celebrated for its wildlife and conservation. But too often that is where the narrative ends. And well of course the diamonds.

But, Botswana has so much more to offer only that haven't really told that story with the passion and vision it deserves.

The truth is, the Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO) once took steps in the right direction. During the COVID-19 lockdown with international borders closed and the tourism sector gasping for survival, BTO launched a domestic tourism campaigns. They encouraged Batswana to explore their own backyard, to support local operators, to see and feel Botswana for themselves. For a moment, it worked. People posted trips to Goo Moremi, Makgadikgadi and even lesser-known spots like, Mmathethe, Tswapong and Kang.

But then the campaigns stopped, the momentum faded and we slipped back into the old mindset that tourism was only for the Delta, Kasane and Maun, only for the elite. What if we changed the narrative? What if we decided like South Africa, to sell stories instead of safari packages?

Every region in Botswana has its own unique culture, dialect, folklore, dress, food, and rhythm. In the North, we have the Bayei and their mokoro legacies. In the Central District, we have the Bangwato royal history. The Kgalagadi sands whisper san myths and the sand dunes while the Barolong carry rich Bechuana heritage that predates colonial borders.

Why aren’t these stories front and centre in our tourism brochures? Why isn’t domestic and cultural tourism as much of a priority as wildlife? Why haven’t we empowered local communities to own and sell their stories just as the Zulu people have done in KZN?

Botswana has the opportunity to turn its villages into destinations, for instance the untold story of Lentswe le moruti village.

To host cultural food festivals at each and every district. To revive ghost towns into storytelling hubs – for instance Lobatse is one heritage that is seriously undersold. Tourism is not just for the five-star resort manager, it is even for the mother who earns income running a home kitchen and even maybe the village elder who shares oral history under a tree.

The economic impact of South Africa’s approach is visible. In KZN, tourism has created jobs, During Africa’s Travel Indaba 2025, Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, reiterated the ambitious targets of the Department’s five-year Tourism Growth Partnership Plan. These include growing total tourism employment from approximately 1.84 million jobs in 2024 to 2.5 million jobs, increasing domestic spend by 25%, growing tourism’s GDP contribution from 8.8% in 2024 to 10%, and welcoming an extra million international air arrivals annually.



Botswana, still grappling with economic diversification, must recognise this opportunity. Our unemployment rate is high. Our youth are creative, hungry for opportunity, and deeply rooted in our cultural mosaic. If we harness that potential through domestic tourism, through experiential tourism we aren’t just preserving heritage. We’re building futures.

But this takes vision and investment and indeed we are in a new Botswana, a re-imagined Botswana. Like the South African tag line “The Joy is Already Here,” we just need to uncover it, package it and share it not just with the world but also with ourselves.

*Sharon Mathala was in Durban at the invitation of South African Tourism. She visited places like the uShaka Marine World, Segway from the Moses Mabhida Stadium and engaged in activities that included shark diving, microflight, hot air balloon, restaurant hopping to mention a few