Find Tourism and Travel partners in Lesotho

Overview

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council  (WTTC) travel and tourism contributed about LSL2,231.3m to the economy of Lesotho in 2011and the industry accounted for 71,500 jobs (12.3% of total employment).  This placed Lesotho 51st in the world (out of 181 countries) in respect to the relative contribution of the tourism sector to the economy, with a 14.3% share of GDP compared to the world average of 14% (WTTC 2011).  In 2010 there were 414,000 tourist arrivals.  The vast majority of these were from Africa, making up 95.35% of the total arrivals to Lesotho in 2011, followed by Europe with 3.2%.  Of African arrivals, 98% were from South Africa (Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation Report).  This generated LSL230.7m in visitor exports in 2011, constituting 2.6% of total exports.  The Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture is responsible for tourism.  It aims to ensure a well-managed environment and preserve the cultural heritage of Lesotho, in order to establish the country as a quality ecotourism destination.

Investment

The scenic beauty and wilderness of mountainous Lesotho offers great potential for the development of the tourist industry.  This opportunity is enhanced by its position, entirely surrounded by South Africa, the most popular tourist destination in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby providing a huge tourist source market.  The Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation promotes Lesotho as an adventure tourist destination, including hiking, pony trekking, skiing, fishing and bird watching.  It aims by 2015 to develop the country into a prime location in Southern Africa for mountains, culture, adventure and ecotourism.  A key part of this aim is in promoting Lesotho as a tourism investment destination.  Areas that it wishes to focus on are health and wellness resorts due to the high altitude and clean mountain air, water sports on the lakes, and high altitude training facilities.  There are a few specific investment projects that are being promoted – the development of a second ski resort, a ‘tourist town’ and the building of lodges in Tshehlanyane Nature Reserve, Liphofung Caves and Bokong Nature Reserve.  There is an immediate need to develop accommodation facilities in the country in order to develop the tourism industry.

Investment into travel and tourism in 2011 was LSL388.6m, constituting 8.4% of total investment.  It was expected to rise considerably in 2012 by 11.3% and then rise by 3.5% pa over the following ten years to LSL608m in 2022.