Clearly, we still have much to learn if we are to catch up with the rest of the world in getting tourism to average a contribution of 30% to our gross domestic product (GDP). It was also interesting to learn that 80% of annual trips for tourism to Africa (meaning tourists from outside Africa) came for wildlife viewing. Now, I stand to be corrected, but if there is a country that has wildlife in abundance, the Big 5, in its most natural setting, Botswana is surely way in the upper league.
That should mean a very sizeable component of the 80% of the $137.37 billion (according to 2015 UN World Tourism Organisation figures) spent on African tourism should be landing on our shores and be reflected by the lifestyles of citizens of Botswana, especially those in tourism. It is after all our forefathers and ourselves that have continued to responsibly share our land with and protect these marvellous, treasured species of the ecosystem. In fact, the same wildlife is now dangerously encroaching on human land due to its population explosion exacerbated by their escape from neighbouring countries where there is little protection from poachers. Surely one expects that Batswana should be very well off from all those tourism dollars.
