STRENGTHENING TOURISM FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: INSIGHTS FROM HATAB 2025
Botswana’s Tourism Sector is transforming, with Government and industry leaders calling for innovation, collaboration, and skills development during the 40th Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) Annual Conference, held in Maun on the 24th and 25th April, 2025. Under the theme “Botswana Tourism: Exploring the Conditions for Growth.” The conference served as a high-level platform to address policy reform, workforce readiness, and sustainable tourism development.
The Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) contributed towards the 2025 HATAB Conference, through strategic engagements and sponsoring of the conference. HRDC plays a critical role as an advisor to Government on human capital development policies, promoting quality education, skills development and training across all the sectors of Botswana’s economy. The Council has direct interlinkages with the Tourism Sector through their collaboration to establish the sector’s current skills gaps and advise in respect to future skills.
The conference tone was set by The President Advocate Duma G. Boko who committed to supporting a Tourism Pitso and recognising Maun as a tourism hub worthy of the status of a city. In his remarks, the Minister of Higher Education, Honourable Prince Maele, focused on the critical role of skills development in advancing Botswana’s tourism industry. He emphasised Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as a key enabler for workforce readiness. The Minister pronounced key initiatives that includes the introduction of TVET Tourism Clusters, with Maun set to become a skills hub for tourism-related studies. Plans are underway to enhance industry-aligned skills through apprenticeships, work-based learning, and digital innovation. The Ministry of Higher Education aims to bridge the skills gap to equip Botswana’s workforce for high-value tourism professions. With TVET positioned as a strategic economic transformation enabler, Honourable Maele encouraged partnerships between industry, academia and other sectors to foster innovation and job creation in tourism.
The HRDC Board Chairperson, Ms Choice Pitso, delivered the Vote of Thanks at the conference closing dinner, reinforcing the importance of continuous training and skills development as well as collaboration to promote the Tourism Sector. Ms Pitso emphasised that HRDC remains committed to enhancing workforce productivity through the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), which finances workplace training initiatives for businesses investing in employee development. Furthermore, She urged tourism enterprises to take full advantage of the HRDF to nurture talented professionals who drive the sector’s value chains.
The 40th HATAB Conference underscored the power of leadership, education, and policy engagement in transforming Botswana’s tourism sector. Industry stakeholders were urged to strengthen public-private partnerships for infrastructure development, leverage TVET and to adopt digital transformation to modernise Botswana’s tourism offerings, and champion community-led tourism for sustainable sector growth.
Botswana’s tourism future is bright. Join the movement and be part of the transformation
