Tourism in Botswana - Project Report

ENGAGING WITH AFRICA
Group Project Report
ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR

TRAVEL & TOURISM BUSINESS IN BOTSWANA
Presented To
PROF. HEMA SWAMINATHAN

ON
28TH FEBRUARY, 2011
WORD COUNT - 4969
BY :
NISHIT GARG (0911259)
RANGINENI SRIKANTH (0911336)
RITURAJ SINGH RAUTELA (0911190)
SHRIKANT AVI (0911131)
VARUN SAINI (0911138)
Engagement Strategy for Travel & Tourism Business in Botswana Project Report
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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2
Nishit Garg | Rituraj Singh Rautela | Rangineni Srikanth | Shrikant Avi | Varun Saini
Page
INTRODUCTION
The tourism industry has undergone phenomenal growth over the last several decades. Increased
information dissemination and a rapid move towards a world without borders has opened the doors for a
majority of the world population to visit the majestic sceneries throughout the world, with the southern
African region being no exception.
Botswana Tourism is a lucrative market in a rapidly growing industry1. The national tourism industry is
growing rapidly and the inflow of tourists from around the world is on a rise. The key to success lies in a
dedicated and experienced staff, excellent networking, and effective management and marketing.
There is a need for carefully positioned, high quality services that are comfortable, informative and tailored
to the clients needs such that they will enable individuals to have a greater appreciation of the natural
environment and its intricacies.
BOTSWANA – THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana (Tswana: Lefatshe la Botswana), is a country located in
Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" (singular: Motswana). Formerly the British
protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the
Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It has held free and fair democratic elections since independence.
At the time of its Independence in 1966, Botswana, a small landlocked country, was one of the poorest in
the world with an annual GDP of $70 per capita 2. Botswana has transformed itself, moving into the ranks of
middle-income status to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world with its average annual
growth rate of about 9 percent with a GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita of about $14,800. 3
Botswana has had an impressive track record of good governance and economic growth supported by
prudent macroeconomic and fiscal management.4 The government provides free and universal education
and the expenditure on education exceeds 10% of GDP; but still overall outcomes have not created the
skills and workforce Botswana needs. Unemployment has been persistently high at near 20 percent,
household incomes are much lower in rural than in urban areas 5and, while rural poverty rates have fallen,
they remain significantly higher than in urban areas. The rate of HIV/AIDS infection has improved as a
result of the government's aggressive introduction of anti HIV/AIDS drugs which are provided free of charge
to the citizens.
1
http://www.bidpa.bw/docs/archive/Economic%20Diversification/TheTourismSector.pdf
2
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/BOTSWANAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:2
0183107~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:322804,00.html
3
2010 IMF Estimate
4
http://www.ngonewsafrica.org/?page_id=3593
5
HIES 2002/03
3
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BOTSWANA ECONOMY
The country is trying to diversify its economy, which is heavily dependent on diamonds and the beef
market6. Other minerals are soda ash, copper and nickel matte, gold, and coal.
Debswana, the largest diamond mining company operating in Botswana, is 50% owned by the government. 7
Mineral industry provides about 40% of all government revenues. In 2007, significant quantities of uranium
were discovered, and mining is projected to begin by 2010. Several international mining corporations have
established regional headquarters in Botswana, and prospected for diamonds, gold, uranium, copper, and
even oil, many coming back with positive results. Government announced in early 2009, that they would try
and shift their economic dependence on diamonds, over serious concern that diamonds are predicted to dry
out in Botswana over the next twenty years.
Fig 1. Tourism
Revenue and
GDP Growth -
Botswana
TOURISM IN BOTSWANA
Tourism is an increasingly important industry in Botswana, accounting for almost 9% of GDP. Though
tourism growth is at its infancy, the Government of Botswana views the tourism industry as an important
engine of economic growth; this commitment is demonstrated by the recently produced Botswana Tourism
Development Master Plan. 8
6
http://botswanatimes.com/
7
http://www.investmentsandincome.com/investments/debswana-diamonds-investment.html
8
http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/doc/ecotourism_technical_report.pdf
4
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TOURISM OPPORTUNITY FOR AN INDIAN BUSINESS
In terms of biodiversity Botswana is a land of contrasts. It has world famous wetlands in the north and the
arid Kalahari Desert in the centre and southwest. Both these contrasting areas have famous protected
areas; the Okavango Delta is the largest inland delta in the world and is a Ramsar site, and the Chobe
National Park, which has large numbers and varieties of game. Chobe harbors one of the largest elephant
densities in the world. To the south, Botswana has the first formally declared trans-boundary park in Africa,
the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park. There is a transitional ecological area in between these two national
parks, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve that is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. There is also a
unique huge prehistoric lake, the now dry assemblage of saltpans called the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans
National Park system, which harbors an important habitat for migratory birds. There is the hard veld to the
east along the Limpopo River.9
MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARY
We are today experiencing a rapid growth in the economy of unsurpassed nature. This has been brought
about by, amongst other things, the relaxation of foreign exchange policies and macroeconomic policies
geared towards attracting foreign investors into the country. The fiscal and monetary policies of the
government geared towards maintaining growth with social justice have largely contributed towards this,
evidenced by our economy averaging a growth rate of 7% since 1990 - very high by international
standards.
The current drive and emphasis by the government on diversification of the industrial base away from the
minerals sector presents an opportunity for Tour Operators to make a valuable contribution towards
achieving this goal. Though there are mobile tour operators currently on the market, some of whom have
been in existence for a relatively long period of time, it is believed that there is a market need for one that
specializes on providing comfortable and enjoyable transport to tourists and visitors. This, also considering
the fact that, potentially Botswana's richest natural resource, the tourism industry is becoming an
increasingly important player in the economy and may in the long term prove even more valuable than
mineral resources in earning foreign exchange. Operating in such a market is largely dependent on good
networking and establishing strategic relationships with various hotels, lodges and travel agents to ensure a
steady stream of clients.
Of all the uncertainty surrounding this industry, one fact is certain: tourism is here to stay. The only
question is how large the industry will become and whether it can sustain, if not exceed, its current growth
rate. However large the market ultimately becomes, the company strongly believes that travel will be an
important component of this market place. Tourism statistics provide a reliable guide as to the size of the
market. According to the latest tourism statistics total arrivals for 1998 amounted to 1,351,798 representing
an increase of approximately 12.65% from the previous year. Of the total arrivals in 1998 205,146 (15.2%)
were holiday/tourists whilst 319,440 (23,6%) were visitors, both groups of which constitute our target
market, totaling approximately 524,586 individuals.10
9
http://www.unep.org/bpsp/tourism/case%20studies%20%28pdf%29/botswana%20%28tourism%29.pdf
10
Tourism Statistics 1998 - Central Statistics Office.
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DEMAND SIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIAN BUSINESS
India is one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets in the world. International tourism departures
from India have grown from 3.7 million in 1997 to 9.8 million in 2007 and international tourism expenditures
have increased from US$ 1.3 billion in 1997 to US$ 8.2 billion in 2008. 11 With more than 1.1 billion
inhabitants and GDP increasing by more than 8% every year, the country offers enormous potential for
future growth in outbound travel. India outbound travel market is expected to grow from 16.6 million in
2011 to 31.9 million departures in 2016 (see table below)
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The increase in size also means new category of travelers. A quote by Mr. John Koldowski, Deputy CEO &
Head, Pacific Asia Tourism Association best describes the kind of growth we are expected to see in this
market.
“To consider India as one large, homogenous market is a mistake; in reality there are many Indias and
therefore Indians, all developing and maturing at differing rates and with different hopes, dreams and
ambitions. To market effectively one has to know not only where they are and how to access them, but also
how their differing needs can be best matched.” Mr. John Koldowski, Deputy CEO & Head, PATA
OPPORTUNITY FOR AFRICA
Currently, only three percent of total Indian outbound travelers visit Africa. But this is likely to change in the
future due to changing categories of travelers. Broadly, Indian travelers today can be categorized into four
types13:
a) Frequent travelers engaged in business travel

b) First time travelers: looking for cheap packaged tours
c) Niche Destination Travelers
d) Seasoned travelers looking for new destinations
11
European Tourism Commission Research 2008
12
ETC Research 2010
13
AC Nielson 2010
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To tap into the African market, the travel companies should focus on marketing towards the latter three
categories as these three provide the maximum potential for growth.
On further analysis, if we categorize the Indian outbound travelers by purpose of the trip, only 20 percent
travel for leisure purposes (see table below). Business trips and VFR (Visiting family and friends) account for
about 60 percent of the total outbound travel by Indians. We focus on leisure trips, as this is our business
model to attract tourists to Botswana.
Category of % Preference
Trip Purpose % leisure traveler
Family Relaxer 37 Prefers beach

Leisure 20
&mountain holidays
Independent 18 and city breaks
Business 40 Relaxer
Luxury 13 New experiences

Employment 13.2
Discoverer with high level of
comfort
Visiting friends &
19.3 Packaged 15 New experiences
family
Discoverer with basic comfort
Religion 1.5 Mature Explorer 9 Off the beaten track
experiences
Studies 2.4 Adventurous 7
Explorer
Other 3.6 Special Interest 1 Niche experiences

Market
Table 1. Break up of purpose of Table 2. Categories & preferences

travel for Indian outbound travel of leisure travelers
If we further break down the leisure visitors into various categories, we get seven distinct types of visitors.
The profile of these travelers along with percentage of each type is presented in the table below:
To target visitors towards Botswana, we should focus on latter five of the categories mentioned above. The
first two categories i.e. family relaxer and independent relaxer do not have a taste or preference of travel,
which Botswana provides. They prefer city breaks and holidays on mountains and beaches. They are not
attracted to wild safaris and desert safaris. All the other five categories have a taste for travel opportunities,
which Botswana provides as a unique destination and Africa provides, as a general destination.
It is difficult to estimate the potential size of capture for Botswana from the Indian market but we have
extrapolated the potential size for Africa in general (see figure below). For Botswana, the size is minimal
now but the current opportunities from both demand and supply side suggests that its share will increase
and it will capture a significant proportion of the potential market for Africa in general.
7
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SUPPLY SIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIAN BUSINESS
The main incentives for an Indian business from the supply side are efforts by Botswana government to
promote tourism and recent launch of one stop shop by Botswana Export Development & Investment
Authority (BEDIA) for Indian investors in Botswana esp. in tourism sector. These efforts are:
a) Creation of Botswana Tourism Board

b) Botswana Tourism Board Act 2003 for policy co-ordination & implementation
c) Relaxation of foreign exchange policies and macroeconomic policies geared towards attracting
foreign investors into the country
d) Botswana Export Development & Investment Authority (BEDIA) investment conference in India:
2010
! One Stop solution for Indian businessmen
! Assist in license, infrastructure, advice for investors in Botswana
Apart from effort by government, another incentive

for Travel & Tour Company to enter Botswana is high
proportion of capture out of total expenditure by an
average traveler.
The figure shows the breakdown of spending by an

average traveler in Botswana. Here, out of total,
proportions spend on accommodation and internal
transport accounts for 35 percent. This is
considerably higher that other countries and provides
a significant opportunity.
Fig 4. Average traveler spending in Botswana

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THE BUSINESS PLAN
The plan is to launch a travel and tours company that intends to deliver leisure travel excursions to Indian
customers. The company intends to guide customers in selecting a trip based on pre-defined vacation
criteria. A traveler will hence be able to select areas of interest based on their preferences and subsequently
identify destinations to visit. The intention is to provide customers with access to exclusive travel
destinations, service to fully appreciate destinations through information packages, not just sight-seeing,
and access to special interest travel according to the group's/individual's preferences.
TARGET CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
The first task is to identify the customers and categorize them. Family relaxer and Independent Relaxer
segments have not been identified as target segments. Other target Indian leisure travelers to Botswana
can be classified as below:
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The primary task is to increase the awareness of tourism services in the various market segments. This is
particularly so with the organization looking at establishing a clear advantage(s) in an increasingly
competitive market. The company will be positioned as a quality commercial tour and travel operator that
provides customer-need fulfillment, enjoyment and reliability.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Services have to be customized according to different customer segments. Few examples of customization
are as follows:
a) Premium private long haul trips for luxury discoverers
b) Short haul group packages for package discoverers and explorers

c) Needs oriented customized trips for special interest segment
A traveler will hence be able to select areas of interest based on his preferences and subsequently identify
destinations to visit. The intention is to provide customers with access to exclusive travel destinations,
service to fully appreciate destinations through information packages, not just sight-seeing, and access to
special interest travel according to the group's/individual's preferences. The aim of the company is to
become a destination management company that brings alive the magnificence of Botswana to the traveler.
This will be done by co-coordinating the traveler's entire experience from hotel bookings, safaris and tours,
greeting and porter services, and to tour packages and incentives.
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KEY SUCCESS DRIVERS
The key to success of this company will undoubtedly be effective market segmentation through
identification of several niche markets and implementation strategies. Along these lines the company will
need to implement advertising, personal selling and direct marketing strategies to the target markets. The
various success drivers are as follows:
a) Solid and fruitful strategic alliances

b) Marketing know how
c) Responsiveness
d) Excellence in fulfilling the promise
SOLID AND FRUITFUL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
Due to the nature of services and relative infancy of the company in the market, the firm will need to form
strategic alliances with various stakeholders, including hotels, lodges, and travel agencies. This will ensure
that there is a constant stream of customers. Moreover, alliance with these players will prevent them from
emerging as a competing entity in the market.
MARKETING KNOW-HOW
As a relatively new company on the market there will be a need to aggressively market the services so as to
be continuously at the top of prospective clients’ minds. This will also act as a temporary deterrent for
companies contemplating entering the market. Advertising in tourist publications, attractive brochures, web
advertising etc shall be undertaken on a regular basis.
RESPONSIVENESS
The company cannot afford to delay delivery of services to clients for whatever reason, as this will have a
negative bearing on the image and reputation, including future business. Hence the company needs to be
continually communicating with the client, including hotels and lodges so as to ensure that they are
constantly available to the client meeting their expectations.
EXCELLENCE IN FULFILLING THE PROMISE
The company needs to offer completely enjoyable, comfortable and informative travel excursions that will
ensure that travelers are thoroughly satisfied and appreciative at the end of their trip. The employees of the
company will provide the key fulfillment and delivery. The real core value will be professional expertise,
provided by a combination of expertise, experience, hard work, and education (in that order). The strategy
will be to grow the business by nurturing clients, differentiating the service from competitors, particularly
through service and staff behavior. All criteria from customer satisfaction, service provision, price
competitiveness to staff attitudes will be looked at thoroughly in the initial stages as areas for improvement.
Training will be conducted on a regular basis to ensure that the staff is fully meeting customer expectations.
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BUSINESS FEASIBILITY
The company is being launched in a highly lucrative market in a rapidly growing economy. Therefore, an
understanding of the internal and external factors is crucial to long-term sustainability of the venture. Below
are the summarized strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
STRENGTHS
• Well-targeted client base: This will ensure better understanding of the customer and better
product and service offerings based on customer profile and needs.
• Extensive advertising and marketing: The company will undertake extensive advertising and
marketing, promoting both its name as well as service/product awareness. Hence an aggressive and
focused marketing campaign with clear goals and strategies will be a key asset.
• Opening up new exotic locations for Indian travelers: This tour and travel company will
provide Indian tourists an exclusive experience of Botswana, which is currently not being done by
any service provider.
WEAKNESSES
• Lack of a reputation in comparison to competitors: This is due to the fact that the company
will be a new entrant in the market. However this shall be addressed as the firm increases
awareness about its services through extensive marketing strategy.
• Organizational practices and personnel development: The introduction of new organizational
practices and integration of personnel (with diverse cultural backgrounds) who have not previously
worked together presents a challenge to the organization.
OPPORTUNITIES
• Government support: Current drive by Botswana government towards encouraging the
participation of indigenous entrepreneurs in tourism presents an opportunity which can be utilized.
• Current growth rate of tourism: This presents an opportunity, which is the prime logic behind
viability of this venture. This is further supported by the current marketing campaigns by both the
government and regional tourism body, the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa -
RETOSA, aimed at promoting tourism into the region.
• Moderate competition: Presently there is no reliable public transportation company to take
tourists to areas of interest. Moreover, current packages bundle Botswana with South Africa, when it
comes to tourism and there is a dearth of Botswana only packages.
• Availability of abundant human resources: This will ensure that there is no dearth of local
guides and staff for other critical functions.
THREATS
• Vertical integration by existing travel agencies, hotels and lodges: Established travel
agencies, hotels and lodges may look at the development of new lines and vertically integrate
transportation so as to provide additional services to clients.
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• Inadequacy of international airline service: Absence of direct flights to Botswana makes this
industry extremely dependent on South African aviation.
• New Entrants: Other start-up travel companies generated by healthy nationwide economic and
tourism growth.
A SAMPLE TOUR TO BOTSWANA
Though Botswana has many unique attractions, it is still rated 87 among 130 countries on Travel and
Tourism Global competitiveness14. This poor rating is mainly because of problems faced by the tourists due
to “lack of access to modern technologies, poor hygiene standards, and poor roads and communications.”
Most of the tourists who visit Botswana for leisure tourism are those interested in adventure trips. The
repetitive customers among the Indian visitors are very negligible. In order to make their visit memorable, a
comprehensive package for touring the entire country is provided. The tour includes adventure drives
through safaris, river cruising, areal surveying etc. The staff will be adequately trained to meet the service
expectations and to guide the customers at different places. Informative briefings about different objects
and places will be provided so that visitors appreciate them fully. The current cost per traveler will be
around $3500 including all the expenses.
Table 3. A sample Botswana adventure tour
14
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Botswana
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INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE MODEL
Globally, nature-based tourism – including ecotourism, rural and agro-tourism, adventure tourism and
cultural tourism– has become increasingly popular over the last two decades, both with conservation and
development organizations looking for means of generating an income from protected areas, and with
tourists from industrialized countries looking for new experiences. The expansion of Travel & Tourism in
general has been supported by the proliferation of long- and short-haul flights, resulting in a significant
increase in the number of flight frequencies and destinations served, as well as a drop in the cost of air
transport. This form of tourism is already a large and growing part of the economies in many developed and
developing countries, including Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania, Costa Rica and
Botswana. As an example, protected areas are the backbone of the successful ecotourism industry in Costa
Rica, which currently generates over US$1 billion a year in earnings – or about 5% of GDP.
CONSERVATIONAL BENEFITS
A properly regulated tourism industry centered on the natural and cultural assets of a country offers a
unique opportunity to improve the conservation of the environment in general and protected areas in
particular. There is potential to set in motion a virtuous cycle, by which protecting the environment attracts
tourism and the development of the tourism industry, which in turn makes it possible to finance the
protection of nature and cultural heritage (directly by fees paid by visitors to protected areas and indirectly
via general taxation), increasing the benefits of protected areas to the country. Moreover, tourism income
from popular protected areas can be used to help finance other areas that cannot attract so many tourists,
or where large visitor numbers would be inappropriate.
Fig 5. Benefits from

nature based tourism
In addition to making a direct contribution in terms of revenues and employment, the facilities and services
required for the development of tourism can also benefit the living conditions of local residents in terms of
improved communications, training, education and healthcare. It can also lead to the creation and
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modernization of legislation and regulation aimed at protecting the environment – through reforestation and
soil-conservation practices, and the rehabilitation of affected natural areas – and to improving community
participation and awareness of the importance of conservation.
EMPLOYMENT
The success of Travel & Tourism, like most service-based activities, depends heavily on its labor force. High
standards of customer service are essential for a memorable and satisfactory visit – whether for business or
pleasure – and the attraction for less-developed countries such as Botswana of diversifying into tourism is
that it is highly labor intensive as well as being an area of comparative advantage. Indeed, the TSA analysis
reveals that, in 2007, 23,000 jobs were directly related to the Travel & Tourism industry. If jobs in all
related sectors are included – such as construction, or the retail sector – total employment stemming from
all Travel & Tourism activity in the country was 59,000 jobs – 10.6% of total employment.
Moreover, Botswana is facing a social problem where, old herdsmen in Kalahari desert are being asked to
moved out of certain portions to prevent desertification due to over grazing. Tourism will help in providing
alternate employment means to these communities without leaving their native lands.
TOURISM FOCUSED EDUCATION
In order to maximize the employment gains for Botswana from tourism, the government and private sector
stakeholders need to invest in appropriate training for local people considering a career in tourism. The
recent launches of tourism courses at the University of Botswana, as well as the work of the Botswana
Wildlife Training Institution in Maun and the Gaborone Technical College, are welcome initiatives, as are the
considerable training efforts made by private sector establishments for their staff. However, stakeholders
continue to highlight a lack of appropriately trained residents as a constraint on their businesses, obliging
them to employ foreign nationals, particularly in key positions. There is also a belief that graduates fail to
consider a career in tourism because of the aura of exclusivity the traditional wildlife product exudes.
Because of this, the government should work with private sector firms and associations such as the
Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) to identify key skills’ shortages and develop a
strategy to address them.
SHORTAGE OF PUBLIC FUNDS – PRIVATE SECTOR IS THE SOLUTION
Financial contributions from the private sector are key to the future of protected areas since many of the
public agencies in charge of their management lack appropriate funding to cater for increasing conservation
demands. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) calculated in the early 1990s that protected areas’ budgets
worldwide covered only 24% of the estimated resources needed to provide adequate maintenance for the
respective areas. Another response to the shortage of public funds is to develop market solutions to
generate resources to contribute to local (particularly rural) and national economic development, while at
the same time introducing incentives for the conservation of protected areas and the preservation of
biodiversity by creating economic value for endemic and endangered species in natural habitats.
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RISKS
While operating in the tourism industry in Botswana we have identified 2 main areas, which could risk our
operations in the country: High AIDS prevalence & Instability of Zimbabwe.
HIGH AIDS PREVALANCE
Botswana has one of the highest numbers of infected people in the world. Around 24-32% of its adult
population is infected with the disease the second highest in the world after Swaziland15. The spread of
disease has an even deeper impact as the youth of nation is more gravely affected with every one youth out
of 3 carrying the virus.
HIV and AIDS have had a devastating impact on Botswana. Life expectancy at birth fell from 65 years in
1990-1995 to less than 40 years in 2000-2005, a figure about 28 years lower than it would have been
without AIDS16. Such loss of population in its productive years has serious implications on the economic
development of the country, due to loss of skilled work force, as well as on the social development of the
country, due to families being pushed into poverty through the costs of the disease- medical treatment,
funeral, loss of income, inability to educate children etc.
Such a situation might show very badly about the Botswana Government and its commitment towards
country’s health and hygiene, which might affect tourists’ decision to tour the country.
INSTABILITY OF ZIMBABWE
The proximity with a highly politico-economically unstable state like Zimbabwe could affect the tourism
industry of Botswana in 3 direct ways:
• Population influx: With Botswana reporting high rates of growth coupled with deteriorating
economic development and highly unstable political regime has led to a high number of
Zimbabweans taking refuge in Botswana in the hope of better life. According to Government sources
there are more than 300,000 Zimbabweans in Botswana creating unrest within the country. Foreign
Minister Phandu Sekelemani had announced that the influx of Zimbabweans into Botswana "is an
issue to be dealt with" and he called on the international community "to help us because it is a drain
on our resources".
• Popular tourist sites: Sites like Victoria Falls, Chobe and Okavango attract a lot of tourists every
year. These places however are close to the Botswana-Zimbabwe border and hence prone to
disturbances owing to political unrest and also by thousands of people crossing the border.
• Existing tour packages: Many of the big tourism companies like- SOTC, Thomas Cook etc do not
have exclusive packages to Botswana. Some of them who do have Botswana in their offerings- have
it as a part of a consolidated tour package covering Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia.
Hence any unrest in any of the countries would affect the entire package as a whole.
15
UNAIDS (2010) 'UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic'
16
“The Impact of AIDS”, United Nations, 2004
15
Page
However, we place the risk in operating in Botswana as minimal. Despite the above-mentioned reasons,
reports of the past few years show that these reasons haven’t affected tourism in Botswana to a great
extent. The government has been very pro-active and efficient with its programs regarding health care to
rub off any negative image foreigners might have against them and the country. In 2008, approximately
$340 million was spent on Botswana's HIV/AIDS response17. The Botswana national government provided
66% of funding for HIV/AIDS programmes that year, a substantially greater share than other sub-Saharan
African countries who rely mainly on foreign donors 18.
Such positive initiatives from the government coupled with positive feedbacks from the tourists who have
visited the country on various forums has managed to cultivate an interest among tourists planning to visit
Africa to include Botswana in their plans.
EXIT STATEGY
We believe that the best exit strategy would be to sell off the company to a bigger player if we are
somehow forced to stop our operations in the country.
Many big tourism companies don’t have an exclusive offering for Botswana and hence our company could
be a potential acquisition target for such large luxury travel agencies that want to leverage their strong
customer base by adding Botswana tourism to their offering. Hence, by developing our company as a
premier brand we could sell it off to such companies if the need arises. Next 10 years Botswana travel is
expected to achieve annualized real growth of 5%, exceeding the world average at 4.3% and the Sub-
Saharan Africa at 4.5%19. With the forecasted high growth rates of the industry, it makes it reasonable to
assume that the big players would be interested to enter the industry in Botswana.
17
UNAIDS (2010) 'UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic
18
NACA Botswana (2010, April) 'Botswana - 2010 Country Progress Report'
19
World Travel & Tourism Council- Botswana- The impact of travel & tourism on jobs and the economy
16
Page

Tourism in Botswana - Project Report

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ENGAGING WITH AFRICA

Group Project Report

ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR

PROF. HEMA SWAMINATHAN

28TH FEBRUARY, 2011

WORD COUNT - 4969

BOTSWANA – THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES

TOURISM OPPORTUNITY FOR AN INDIAN BUSINESS

MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARY

DEMAND SIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIAN BUSINESS

;1! growth of India

OPPORTUNITY FOR AFRICA

a) Frequent travelers engaged in business travel

Family Relaxer 37 Prefers beach

Luxury 13 New experiences

Other 3.6 Special Interest 1 Niche experiences

Table 1. Break up of purpose of Table 2. Categories & preferences

SUPPLY SIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIAN BUSINESS

a) Creation of Botswana Tourism Board

Apart from effort by government, another incentive

The figure shows the breakdown of spending by an

Fig 4. Average traveler spending in Botswana

THE BUSINESS PLAN

TARGET CUSTOMER SEGMENTS

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

a) Premium private long haul trips for luxury discoverers

b) Short haul group packages for package discoverers and explorers

KEY SUCCESS DRIVERS

a) Solid and fruitful strategic alliances

SOLID AND FRUITFUL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

EXCELLENCE IN FULFILLING THE PROMISE

A SAMPLE TOUR TO BOTSWANA

Table 3. A sample Botswana adventure tour

INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE MODEL

Fig 5. Benefits from

TOURISM FOCUSED EDUCATION

SHORTAGE OF PUBLIC FUNDS – PRIVATE SECTOR IS THE SOLUTION

HIGH AIDS PREVALANCE

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