The Botswana Tourism Organisation plans to open an international tourism office in Dubai, UAE, to help market Botswana as a tourist destination for Emiratis.

Jillian Blackbeard, Marketing Manager, previously told Tourism Update that work was being done in terms of a strategic partnership with the UAE in tourism investment as well as direct tourism.

“We received a directive from the ministry that we should open an office in Dubai to take advantage of the Middle East and northeast markets. The office was given priority over the other markets that we intended to open, which include Germany, Brazil and Australia,” Thabo Dithebe, resigning BTO CEO, told Committee on Statutory Bodies on Tuesday in Gaborone.

BTO could not be reached for comment and had not responded to emails at time of publishing.

The Botswana government last month exempted Emiratis from a pre-entry visa in a bid to boost tourism.