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Botswana targets BRICS tourists

Xinhua, December 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Botswana will target tourists from BRICS countries to fuel growth in its tourism sector, Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO) said here on Monday.

BTO intends to market Botswana tourism to BRICS countries like China, BTO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thabo Dithebe said at a press briefing, adding that research has shown that the number of visitors from BRICS countries has risen significantly over the last few years, as global dominance of the travel trade is slowly moving away from the traditional European and United States markets.

"China as part of BRICS is one of the countries that Botswana intends to maximize on in a bid to attract tourists. We are also targeting tourists from Brazil, South Africa and Russia in a bid to grow the tourism sector," Dithebe added.

World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) 2015 report, released in March, showed that the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Botswana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014 was 6.2 billion pula (about 620 million U.S. dollars) up from 5.2 billion pula (about 520 million dollars) in 2013.

It also projected that travel and tourism activities will grow by 5 percent in 2015 and directly contribute 6.5 billion pula (about 650 million U.S.dollars) into the national economy.

The report also stated that travel and tourism generated 32,000 jobs directly in 2014, constituting 4.6 of total formal employment. Enditem