Botswana extends wage subsidy for tourism sector

Botswana has approved a wage subsidy for the tourism industry, the country's most ailing sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authorities in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism on Tuesday announced that the government has approved an extension of wage subsidy for the tourism sector for another five months from July till December.

"The Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) is processing payments for all licensed tourism operators who have fulfilled the requirements which were previously posted," said Onalenna Mokgachane, spokesperson for Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism.

Botswana had extended a three months wage subsidy to private sector companies, across all sectors in April during the country's first nationwide lockdown following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Botswana tourism sector is one of the most hard-hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Germany government recently donated 4.8 million euros (approximately 65.8 million Pula), to support the local tourism sector.

The funding is an immediate measure to assist communities cope with the detrimental impact of the pandemic and assist in the infrastructural development within the tourism sector.

In addition, the support is expected to further create the much needed employment in the communities.

Meanwhile the Southern African Development Community (SADC) secretariat has highlighted that the looming slump in tourism due to COVID-19 is expected to slip over to communities and startups.