Africa-Press – Botswana. Batswana women in the tourism sector have been urged to take advantage of opportunities availed by government in efforts to promote entrepreneurship in the tourism value chain.
The encouragement was given by Minister of Environment and Tourism, Ms Philda Kereng during a Women in Tourism Botswana symposium in Gaborone Saturday.
She informed her audience that government was in the process of formulating inclusive policies, frameworks and programmes geared towards growing and revitalising the tourism industry.
“This includes applying the lessons that we learnt from COVID-19 and devising plans of action and strategies that will assist Batswana to thrive in their current environment,” she said.
Ms Kereng said one such plan was the Revised Tourism Policy aimed at diversifying tourism products.
The minister said since women played multi-faceted roles in life, it was only fitting that government provided an enabling environment so that they too could gain in the economic race.
She encouraged women to remain resilient, believe in their craft, support one another and form strategic collaborations.
“Purchasing woven baskets from the local market to decorate your guest house for example, is one way of contributing to a long term chain that creates jobs for women and empowers local communities which ultimately brings new opportunities for a better future.
As we rethink of growing the tourism sector post COVID-19, we should intensely focus on building partnerships and advancing technology in line with the Reset Agenda,” the minister said.
She congratulated the event’s organisers for bringing together women in the industry to network and discuss ways of becoming more involved in the tourism value chain.
The organisation’s founder and president, Ms Bokani Mathape said the annual event was intended to create a platform for women in the tourism and hospitality industry to engage, unearth and create opportunities.
“The initiative was aimed at empowering and advancing women by encouraging and creating networks to share skills and to create opportunities.
Tourism is a huge industry in Botswana and we intend to respond to a growing interest in opportunities surrounding it as well as a need for a formal platform for women’s voice in one of the country’s key economic pillars,” she said.
Ms Mathape said her organisation was deliberate about supporting the Sustainable Development Goal focusing on achieving gender equality and empowering women.
She identified red tape and lack of funding as some of the challenges local female entrepreneurs in the tourism sector faced.
“As young female in this sector myself, I also advocate for an open door policy, so as to encourage openness and transparency in order to foster an environment of collaboration, high performance and mutual respect,” said Ms Mathape.
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