New data shows extent of tourism’s COVID-19 collapse

The numbers provide a glimpse into the impact of the pandemic on one of the country’s key economic sectors, a key foreign currency earner, downstream value distributor and employer. While Statistics Botswana publishes annual tourism arrivals, the WTTC’s research reports include trends in employment, tourist spend and contributions of the travel and tourism sector to the economy.

Like other countries, the local tourism industry was hard hit by COVID-19’s arrival, as local and international borders closed between March and December 2020. Even after the limited reopening in December, arrivals from key markets such as Europe and the US were limited by travel restrictions between their countries, all along the transit routes and on arrival in Botswana.