Botswana has marked a significant step forward in stimulating air access to the region, with the launch of an official air access strategy, incorporating key members of the tourism, aviation and trade industries.
Hoping to build off similar successful initiatives such as Cape Town Air Access, Botswana Air Access has the objective of attracting, retaining and expanding air connectivity to Botswana. The project was officially launched on August 22 in Gaborone, and comes at the same time as national carrier Air Botswana embarks on significant route expansions .
The initiative is spearheaded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana, in partnership with the Botswana Tourism Organisation, the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre, Business Botswana, the Travel Agents Association of Botswana and the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana. These organisations will assist in advisory roles and strategic engagements with domestic, regional and international carriers.
The project will have positive effects on tourism, investment and trade as it is a collaborative national destination initiative driven by its objective to improve ease of international air access to Botswana, said CAAB CEO, Bao Masinyi .
Earlier this year, project stakeholders attended the AviaDev conference in Namibia to commence engagements with regional and international carrier representatives. A delegate team will seek to continue engaging carriers at the largest air services development platform in the world, Routes World, which is taking place in Bahrain in early October.
