For the first time, Botswana has launched the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for the years 2019-2024 which provided full analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the tourism sector.
The Tourism Satellite Account is an internationally recognised statistical framework developed by the United Nations and the World Tourism Organization. It provides a comprehensive and internationally comparable measure of tourism’s contribution to the national economy, including its impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, investment and other key economic indicators.
The TSA was officially launched in Gaborone this past Tuesday, followed by Kasane on Thursday then Maun today.
Speaking during the launch of the TSA in Gaborone, the Minister of Environment and Tourism Wynter Mmolotsi said that the tool is not just simply a statistical achievement but a defining moment in the nation’s journey to understand, measure, and manage tourism as a driver of sustainable development.
He noted that the TSA will also give Botswana a powerful tool to view, grow and develop tourism sector. According to him, the TSA may reveal the disruption of livelihoods, the decline in visitor flows, and the strain placed on our resilience.
“Yet it may also show the beginning of recovery, how our sector has adapted, rebuilt, and found new pathways forward. This dual narrative of challenge and renewal is what makes the TSA so powerful,” he said.
Mmolotsi highlighted that unlike traditional statistics, the TSA integrates tourism into the System of National Accounts, allowing country to see its true impact on GDP, employment, investment, and foreign exchange. He added that the tool moves Botswana from anecdote to evidence, from estimates to precision, and from perception to reality.
Meanwhile, according to Botswana’s Tourism Satellite Account results for 2019–2024 the tourism sector has moved from severe pandemic disruption to a strong recovery, although the shape of tourism has changed.
The results highlight that by 2024, total internal tourism consumption reached P19.6 billion, around 29% higher than in 2019 (in current prices), and well above the low point recorded in 2021. This recovery has been reportedly driven by both the return of international visitors and continued growth in domestic tourism.
The results indicate that inbound tourism has largely recovered in volume terms. Inbound trips reached 1.49 million in 2024, still slightly below the 2019 level of 1.56 million, but inbound expenditure rose to P9.2 billion, around 16% higher than in 2019 (in current prices).
This indicates stronger value per trip, although average length of stay fell from around 6.5 nights in 2019 to 4.8 nights in 2024. The sector is therefore earning more from a broadly similar number of visitors, but over shorter stays.
The results further highlight that domestic tourism has become increasingly important. Domestic trips are reported to have rose steadily to 5.79 million in 2024, and domestic expenditure reached P10.4 billion, up by more than 40% compared with 2019 (in current prices). As a result, domestic tourism reportedly accounted for just over half of total internal tourism consumption in 2024, compared with just under half in 2019.
The TSA results also state that tourism’s wider economic contribution has also strengthened. Tourism industries are reported to have generated P12.4 billion in GVA in 2024, while the direct tourism contribution to GDP reached P9.8 billion. Direct tourism GDP represented 3.7% of GDP, still below the 2019 share of 4.5%, but continuing to recover from the 2021 low. Tourism employment also rebounded, with direct tourism jobs estimated at around 29,900 in 2024.
In overall, the data point to a tourism sector that is recovering in value, employment and business activity.
According to the TSA results, the main strategic opportunity is to convert this recovery into higher-yield, longer-stay and more broadly distributed growth across the tourism economy.
