About

Summary

The development of Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) allow destinations to measure tourism using the same concepts, classifications and definitions as when measuring the impact of other sectors in the national economy.  It is therefore an important tool for assessing the importance of tourism.

This study was the fourth Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) compilation for Botswana, with previous compilations being undertaken for the years 2006, 2009 and 2016.  The main data for the compilation of the TSA was derived from the Visitor Exit Survey undertaken annually by the Department of Tourism and a range of data compiled by Statistics Botswana including GDP calculations, employment data and other economic statistics.

Our Approach

The processes followed to compile the 2019 TSA adhere to the guidelines set out by the World Tourism Organization in their publications:

• International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS: 2008).
• Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 (TSA:RMF 2008).

Whilst the Department of Tourism collects the majority of the demand-side data, the supply-side data was mainly sourced from Statistics Botswana, significantly the national accounts.  A project to rebase Botswana National Accounts to 2016 was completed in July 2021.  The main data sources were the 2015/2016 Botswana Multi-Topic Household Survey (BMTHS), 2015 Agriculture Census, 2016 Economic Census, administrative sources and other supplementary surveys.  Major updates during the national accounts rebasing included:

• Transition from SNA1993 to SNA2008.
• Upgrade from ISIC Rev 3.1 to ISIC Rev 4..
• Construction of Supply and Use Tables consisting of  58 industries by 98 products
• Improved data sources and methods.

Outcome

The TSA for 2019 showed that tourism contributed 5.1% to GDP (up from 4.9% in 2016), generating direct gross value added of Pula 9.1 billion (up from Pula 7.7 billion in 2016).  Internal (inbound and domestic) tourism expenditure totalled Pula 19.5 billion (up from Pula 14.5 billion in 2016).

It was estimated that once the indirect impact of tourism expenditure is included, the TDGVA of Pula 9.1 billion increases to Pula 13.9 billion.

Tourism accounted for 7.9% of all employed persons in Botswana, or 58,420 employees.