The Botswana Tourism Organisation Act [CAP 42:10] mandates BTO to market and position Botswana as a premier tourist destination, promote investment and product diversification in the tourism industry and ensure all tourism facilities are classified, certified and graded. More specifically, the Act under Part 2 Section 4 mandates BTO as follows:
- Botswana Tourism shall do all such things as are necessary to market and promote tourist attractions and to encourage and facilitate travel, by local and foreign tourists, to the said attractions.
- Without derogating from the generality of the provisions of subsection (1), Botswana Tourism shall:
- Plan, develop and implement tourism marketing and promotion strategies aimed at creating and sustaining a positive image of Botswana as a tourist and investor destination;
- Plan, formulate and implement strategies for promoting sustainable tourism development in collaboration with the private sector in the tourism industry, local authorities, local communities and non-governmental organisations;
- Implement Government policies and programmes aimed at facilitating the continued growth and development of the tourism sector;
- Develop and implement appropriate strategies for achieving annual work plan objectives and set performance targets aimed at the promotion of the tourism business in Botswana;
- Establish and expand local as well as international travel trade networks to promote and sell Botswana as a tourist destination;
- Manage and coordinate tourism promotional and publicity programmes;
- Provide market research information and market intelligence on tourism;
- Promote the expansion of existing tourist enterprises and new investments in the tourism sector;
- Market and promote the establishment of joint tourist enterprise ventures between citizen and foreign investors;
- Promote the improvement of tourist enterprise and service standards;
- Grade and classify tourist enterprise facilities in accordance with PART VI;
- Conduct tourism awareness campaigns and tourism research within and outside Botswana;
- Develop and improve the existing tourism opportunities and diversify the sector to include other forms of tourism, such as cultural and heritage tourism, eco-tourism, entertainment, recreational and leisure tourism and bring them to the required marketable standard;
- Select, develop and bring to the required marketable standard any tourism project, solely or through partnerships with any community-based organisation or any individual; and
- Select and facilitate any tourism project from any community-based organisation or individual to bring the project to the required marketable standard.
