State Sponsored Tourism Attractions as a Vehicle for Economic Growth: The Case for Sustainable Tourism Performance in Lesotho.

Abstract

The tourism industry has developed remarkably since the Second World War to turn out to be the world’s major economic activity. Moreover, tourism has become one of the greatest vital pushers for economic development in numerous countries. Most literature highlights that tourism carries the growth of economies of numerous countries. Tourism does not only contribute to the positive stimulation of the economy, but it also generates employment and revenue. Lesotho is rich in tourist attractions ranging from skiing, hiking, fly fishing, rock painting, rock art, bird watching, dinosaur bone fossils, and many more, but few research studies highlight the plight of Lesotho’s tourism attractions. Therefore, this study investigated why Lesotho’s attractions are not attracting a significantly incremental number of tourist arrivals on a year-to-year basis, and whether the state has the ability to mobilise more international visitors to its tourist attractions and ensure tourism-driven economic growth. For this study, convenience sampling was used to gather data by interviewing 30 participants in each of the 11 villages of the Qacha’s Nek district, one of the 10 districts of Lesotho. Each of the interviewees was helped to fill in a questionnaire that the researcher analysed and drew conclusions on whether the Lesotho possess the potential to have more inbound arrivals to its attractions and if government could play a significant role towards boosting the economy through tourism. The results highlighted that Lesotho has the potential to attract a significantly high number of inbound tourist arrivals owing to the nation’s rich cultural diversity and unique scenery, but the state and relevant authorities should address issues of concern such as vandalism and lack of security at attraction sites, poor roads, lack of signage on roads, and the deterioration of tourist attractions. The study recommends that for Lesotho’s attractions to experience increased international visitor arrivals, issues such as security, accessibility, accommodation, and upgrading of infrastructure should be addressed.