Best Practices in Tourism Planning for the Development and Promotion of the Gaborone Tourism Development Area

• Africa
• 1 Apr 24
• 1 Jul 24

In Partnership With:
Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Botswana:

Context: 

The National Tourism Master Plan for Botswana, 2022-2032, prepared by UN Tourism for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Botswana, allocated eight Tourism Development Areas (TDAs) nation-wide, presenting an overall vision and structure for tourism development in each TDA.

To help implement the Tourism Master Plan, the Ministry requested UN Tourism’s technical assistance to identify suitable tourism sites for investment within the Gaborone TDA and prepare detailed development plans for the sites.

Four connected sites with high potential for urban tourism development were identified in the Centre of Gaborone, linking the Historical Core with the new Central Business District and a section along the Segoditshane River. In addition, the Old Naledi Township in the outskirts of the city was identified as the fifth site, offering good opportunities for developing community-based forms of tourism. For each of the five sites, detailed plans were developed for urban improvements and potential new developments, enhancing the attractiveness of the city for both residents and visitors.

Highlights: 

UN Tourism was on the ground in Gaborone from 24 to 29 June for site inspection visits, stakeholder consultation and verification of the findings and recommendations. During meetings and presentations, best practices were shared from successful urban tourism developments in different parts of the world, such as China, the Middle East and Spain, that can serve as examples and provide inspiration for tourism planning and development in Gaborone.

Tourism and urban planning stakeholders in Gaborone have the ambition to develop an urban tourism and recreational park along the Segoditshane River that is flowing for 14 km through Gaborone. Examples from the successful development of the 7km long Turia River Park in Valencia, being an attractive site for both residents and visitors, were shared to motivate stakeholders in Gaborone to replicate this concept when developing an urban river park along the Segoditshane River.

Stay Tuned:

A final mission of the tourism physical planner will be undertaken to Gaborone in the third quarter of 2024 to zoom in on physical planning details and complete the plans for the five urban tourism sites.

Subsequently, a next phase of the project will be launched to prepare Development Guidelines and Customized Investment Models for the four priority tourism sites in the Centre of Gaborone as well as a comprehensive Road Map for introducing sustainable community tourism in Old Naledi Township.

As part of the next phase, possibilities are explored to organize a study tour to Spain for selected tourism and urban development professionals from Gaborone to learn from urban tourism developments in cities like Madrid and Valencia, including site visits to the Madrid Rio Park and the Turia River Park in Valencia.

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