Mystery as Botswana pulls out of regional tourism body

On Wednesday, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Thato Raphaka confirmed the development, but could not share the reasons behind such a move. “I can confirm that it has come to my attention that Botswana has pulled out of RETOSA, but I am still going to engage with relevant stakeholders to find out if the decision was done by the Ministry or by the government. Right now I am not even aware of the reasons why we pulled out,” he said.

At the Travel Indaba held in Durban earlier this month, South Africa’s tourism authorities appeared unaware that Botswana had dumped RETOSA, with SA Tourism chief executive officer (CEO), Sisa Ntshona saying the organisation was helping market southern Africa as a unit, including the tourism heartland in north-western Botswana.