BTO quality service dept hosts Zimbabwean counterpart

Staff Writer | Tuesday September 19, 2017 15:53

Botswana is one of the countries with robust policies and laws that guide sustainable tourism development and as such, countries perceive Botswana as a shining example for such programmes and visit the country to benchmark on Botswana’.

Countries such as Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Uganda have visited Botswana to learn on the Licensing Grading and Eco-certification of tourist enterprises. To date, Namibia and Lesotho have implemented grading systems in their countries after undertaking such benchmarking visits to Botswana.

Grading is an important component of marketing and we view all the exercises as a show of confidence on the Botswana grading system. These benchmarking exercises also help us to appreciate feedback from counterparts and to compare notes of the various dynamics that characterise the operating grading systems of the various countries.

Section 25 (1) of the BTO Act provides that “Botswana Tourism shall, in accordance with Section 27, grade all tourist enterprises licensed under the Tourism Act.”

This means that Botswana Star Grading System is compulsory by law and all tourist enterprises licensed under the Tourism Act are required to comply with all grading minimum requirements as prescribed by Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) grading standards for hotels and related establishments.

Tourist enterprises include all tourist facilities throughout the country such as hotels, guesthouses, bed & breakfast, lodges, tented camps, self-catering apartments, mobile safaris and camping grounds. Failure to meet the set requirements and criterions may lead to appropriate action being taken by the Department of Tourism, which is responsible for the licensing of all tourist facilities in accordance with the Tourism Act, 2009 and the Tourism Regulations, 2010. The grading system is compulsory and it is conducted every two years. The system consists of a rating from 1 to a 5 star.