Gov't to tap into cultural tourism
Larona Makhaiza | Monday July 7, 2025 06:31
In an interview with the media at the 2025 Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival, Mmolotsi said it is crucial for the government to tap into new avenues, including diversifying the tourism industry and bolstering culture locally.
Mmolotsi, who was attending the event for the first time, also said the government has already enacted a plan to develop this.
“As the ministry, we have a strategy where we talk about tourism development areas. These areas are different, where they include dams, heritage sites and cultural tourism. So these are areas we want to tap into,” Mmolotsi said.
The minister said the country must tap into heritage or cultural tourism as Botswana has a lot to offer, hence the need to expand the Khawa type of events to other areas.
He highlighted that people need to be sensitised that Botswana is not a place for wild animals only.
“Talking about tourism development areas, we would want to do similar events in other areas, depending on what those areas offer. For instance, on this side (Khawa), we have sand dunes and culture,” he said.
He added, “This is to help us customise events of this nature. Customise to what those areas are strong at'.
The minister said this strategy would help in keeping international tourists in Botswana for more days, as it will give them plenty of options to choose from.
“We need to diversify our product cause right now, tourists only come to us to see the delta and wild animals, when they are done, they are gone. So through this strategy we will combat that,” Mmolotsi said.
From this strategy, the minister said all parts of the country would benefit from it, as most parts of the country are famous for something unique to them.
“There is no place that we could say is useless in terms of what could be done there. Some places have natural resources that they can use and benefit from, for instance, Tswapong, they are famous for making pots, kika le motshe,” he said.
Moreover, Mmolotsi said the government will not primarily focus on heritage sites but would also look to tap into urban tourism.
“We are now trying to venture into another thing that is urban tourism or city tourism, where we are now going to develop our cities to a point that you will see tour buses around the city,” he said.
Unlike cultural tourism, which is still in the pipeline, Mmolotsi said the government has made great strides in implementing the new strategy, with only minor details lagging.
“This will be starting very soon in Gaborone. We have already licensed one operator who will be starting that. We are also going to encourage more and more people as the department of tourism is developing routes,” Mmolotsi said.
With the city tourism, Mmolotsi said it will not only bring business to the city but will also contribute to the cultural tourism of heritage sites in the city, as he said most people are not aware of them.
“There are tourist attractions in Gaborone and even people who stay there don’t know them. So this strategy will help people consume tourism in Gaborone as they will get to visit the museum, the three chiefs' monuments,” he said.