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BUSA7415A 

MBA Dissertation  

New Business Venture Proposal   

Topic: Exploring Recreational and Accommodation Facilities 

in the Tourism Industry in Lesotho  

Submitted by 

Ntseuoa C Motsieloa  

Date: 24 May 2024 

Student number: 1975785 

Tel: +27 81 385 5698 

Email: mtsnts005@gmail.com 

 

mailto:mtsnts005@gmail.com


 

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Executive Summary  

Tourists enjoy visiting Lesotho for its unique mountains, scenic views and culture and the 

country has attracted many tourists internationally. Tourism in Lesotho has been studied 

for years by many stakeholders as far back as 1980 by Lesotho government, United 

Nations and World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and others. The studies advised 

government to use tourism development as way to alleviate poverty and create jobs. The 

state of tourism in Lesotho is still in early development and various opportunities are 

available for new entrants to offer unique offering and experiences.  

The study is a New Venture Proposal i.e. startup with focus to explore recreational and 

accommodation facilities in the sector. In this study tourists’ needs are studied and 

analysed to identify customer needs prior. Demographics of Lesotho tourism is studied to 

identify market segment and what inspires the needs and demands for travelling. Although 

lack of customer services & market-ready tourism & accommodation facilities is found to 

be a challenge for the sector, in this proposal it is taken as a unique opportunity for new 

venture.  

The theoretical models by Cohen and Plog were used to identify the type of tourists based 

on their needs and motivations for travelling. The Plog model shows that undeveloped 

tourist market (like Lesotho) attracts more of allocentric tourists i.e. the wanderers, and 

these are those of high-income brackets. However, the income bracket may not be a good 

measure as the Mid-Centric tourists are high in numbers, meeting the volumes for high 

sales with higher profit margins. This venture proposal is targeting Mid-Centric tourists, 

psychographic as well as allocentric as per Plog’s model since the market has high demand 

and untapped supply.  

The qualitative research methodology was used as this is exploratory type of research via 

interviews to study tourists and their needs/behaviours. The research participants included 

amongst others, entrepreneurs in the sector, industry leaders and general tourists to 

Lesotho. The data collected was structured via thematic analysis including demographics, 

travel patterns (length of stay in stay), motivations, interest, and customer satisfaction to 

identify market segment and marketing strategy for target customer. 

Hotel Development with recreational amenities was found to be a suitable offering for the 

venture within the accommodation & recreational facilities and amenities sector. There is 



 

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only one hotel that offers a 5-star rating in the whole country, many are 3 and 4 stars. A 

suitable offering will comprise a mixture of 3, 4 and 5 stars depending on the level of 

service, amenity types and customers willingness to pay. 

The development will be financed via a mix of both equity and debt financing to reduce high 

debt financing costs, while not losing ownership and powers of the business. Sensitivity 

analysis was done for 50 rooms with occupancy rate of 50% and 60% at room rate of R5000 

and R4500 respectively. An average annual return on investment (ROI) of 12 % was 

calculated for 60% occupancy rate and 10 % for 50 % occupancy rate respectively. The 

cash-on-cash return was calculated to be at 20 % for 50 % occupancy rate, and 24% for 

60 % occupancy rate respectively. 100 rooms were also used in the sensitivity analysis for 

60 % occupancy rate, although the occupancy rate is favourable, the ROI remained 

unchanged at 12 %. 

Key Words: Tourist needs, Tourists demands, Tourism facilities, Tourism Development, 

New Venture 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 



 

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Plagiarism Declaration  

 I Ntseuoa Motsieloa declare that this Applied Research Proposal- New Venture Proposal 

titled: Exploring Recreational and Accommodation Facilities in the Tourism Industry 

in Lesotho is my own work except as indicated in the references and Turnitin has been 

used to verify that similarity has been checked and verified and is below 10 %. 

 

Name: Ntseuoa Motsieloa                                            Signed:   

Signed at: Alberton            

On the:  25 May 2024 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

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Acknowledgements  

• MBA Journey has been a challenging one. It is with utmost humility that I thank my 

Supervisor Dr Erasmus Appiah for his guidance on this research project. My MBA 

colleagues in various syndicates who shared knowledge through their experience.   

• It wouldn’t have been possible if it was not through the support of family; my wife 

Maria Motsieloa who supported the family and kids when I attended to this project 

and my kids Lereko Motsieloa, Lesedi Motsieloa and Lebohang Motsieloa for 

their understanding. 

• I would also like to pass my gratitude to CEO Tebello Thoola and Research & 

Development Manager Mmachafalo Motsoeneng at Lesotho Development Tourism 

(LDTC) for sharing some literature on the insight of Lesotho Tourism Market  

• This research project was more than just getting MBA, but to contribute to 

knowledge regarding tourism industry in Lesotho and to promote pride of the 

country and what it can offer for investors and citizens of Lesotho.  

Dedication  

• This research is dedicated to my kids; Lereko, Lesedi and Lebohang, that one day 

they follow their dreams and venture into new markets with courage and right skills. 

Disclaimer  

• The stakeholders and participants were guaranteed with anonymity and 

confidentiality, and they signed consent forms & No Unintended Consequences 

Applicable 

• Ethical Clearance certificate was attained for this research and is attached to this 

report in Annexure D. The consent forms were signed.  

• Letter of approval to get information from Lesotho Tourism Development 

Corporation is also available attached in Annexure I 

 



 

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Acronyms and Abbreviations 

BnB Bed and Breakfast 

GDP Gross Domestic Product 

GoL Gorvenment of Lesotho 

LHDA Lesotho Highlands Development Authority  

LSM Living Standards Measure 

LNDC Lesotho National Development Corporation 

LTDC Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation 

NMTP National Tourism Master Plan  

NPT The National Tourism Policy 

OR Occupancy Rate 

PPP Public Private Partnership 

PESTELG Analysis Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, 

Legal & Governance Factors 

ROI Return on Investment 

SA South Africa 

SADC South African Development Community  

StatsSA Statistics South Africa 

SIB Seychelles Investment Board  

SWOT Analysis Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threads  

TT Travel & Tourism 

TTDI Travel & Tourism Development Index  

UN United Nations  

UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organisation 

WTTC World Travel & Tourism Council  

 

 

 

 



 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... ii 

Plagiarism Declaration ..................................................................................................... iv 

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v 

Dedication ......................................................................................................................... v 

Disclaimer ......................................................................................................................... v 

Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................ vi 

1. Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 

1.1. Background .......................................................................................................1 

1.2. Tourism Global Market.......................................................................................1 

1.3. Purpose of the study ..........................................................................................3 

1.4. Research Objectives ..........................................................................................3 

1.5. Delimitations of the Study ..................................................................................4 

1.6. Structure of the Business Venture .....................................................................5 

2. Systematic Review of Literature ................................................................................5 

2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................5 

2.2. Benefits and Challenges ....................................................................................5 

2.2.1. The National Tourism Policy (NTP) ............................................................5 

2.2.2. Tourism Sector Challenges ........................................................................6 

2.3. Empirical Review of Literature ...........................................................................7 

2.3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................7 

2.3.2. Demographics Profile .................................................................................9 

2.3.3. Tourists needs. ........................................................................................14 

2.3.4. Lesotho Tourism Domestic Market ...........................................................17 

2.3.5. Regional & International Tourism .............................................................18 

2.3.6. Most Visited places in Lesotho .................................................................20 

2.3.7. Accommodation & Recreational Facilities ................................................22 



 

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2.3.8. Most Undertaken Recreational Activities ..................................................23 

2.3.9. Most Utilised Accommodation Establishments .........................................24 

2.3.10. Lesotho’s Industry ranking .......................................................................25 

2.3.11. Market Opportunity & Research Gaps ......................................................26 

3. Research Framework & Methodology ......................................................................27 

3.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................27 

3.2. Venture Proposal Approach .............................................................................27 

3.3. Tourist Needs & Theoretical Framework ..........................................................28 

3.3.1. Tourist Typologies/Mode of experience ....................................................28 

3.4. Venture Proposal Design .................................................................................30 

3.5. Tourism Demand .............................................................................................31 

3.5.1. Demographics & numbers ........................................................................31 

3.5.2. Tourism Market Data................................................................................32 

3.5.3. Research Approach .................................................................................32 

3.5.4. Population ................................................................................................33 

3.5.5. Interview Design ......................................................................................33 

3.5.6. Sampling Technique ................................................................................34 

3.5.7. Data Collection.........................................................................................34 

3.6. Data Analysis ...................................................................................................35 

3.6.1. Thematic Analysis ....................................................................................35 

4. Key Findings ...........................................................................................................36 

5. Business Venture Proposal .....................................................................................40 

5.1. Executive Summary .........................................................................................40 

5.2. Strategy ...........................................................................................................40 

5.2.1. About the venture .....................................................................................40 

5.2.2. Business Strategy Framework .................................................................40 

5.2.3. Vision, Mission & Objectives ....................................................................40 

5.2.4. Organisational Objectives ........................................................................41 

5.3. Stakeholders Analysis .....................................................................................42 

5.3.1. Customer Analysis ...................................................................................42 



 

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5.4. Situational Analysis (Environmental, Industry & Competitor Analysis) ..............42 

5.4.1. Macro Environmental Analysis (Pestelg) ..................................................42 

5.4.2. Industry Analysis Porters’ Five forces competitor model: .........................44 

5.4.4. SWOT analysis ........................................................................................47 

5.5. Market analysis ............................................................................................48 

5.6. Operational Plan ..............................................................................................54 

5.6.1. Geographical location ..............................................................................54 

5.6.2. Management Operating Model .................................................................54 

5.6.3. Team .......................................................................................................55 

5.6.4. Regulatory and legal issues .....................................................................55 

5.7. Recommendations for future studies................................................................56 

5.8. Strategy & Project Implementation ...................................................................57 

Bibliography ......................................................................................................................a 

Annexure A: Interview Questions on Lesotho Tourism Market .......................................... f 

Annexure B: Lesotho Tourism Growth (2018-2023):  Projected tourism growth under the 

medium growth scenario. Source: NTMP (2018 – 2028) ...................................................a 

Annexure C: Classification of Data Collected ....................................................................d 

Annexure D: Ethics Clearance Form ................................................................................. f 

Annexure E: Finance Data & Financial Model for Return on Investment & Profitability 

Analysis ............................................................................................................................g 

Annexure F:  Financial Model for ROI and Cashflow over 20-year period; 50 %Occupancy 

rate, Number of rooms 50, Room rate per day R5000 in the first year ...............................h 

Annexure G: Financial Model for ROI and Cashflow over 20-year period; 50 % 

Occupancy rate, Number of rooms 50, Room rate per day R4500 in the first year ............. i 

Annexure H: Financial Model for ROI and Cashflow for the proposed venture over 20 year 

period; 60 % Occupancy rate, Number of rooms 100, Room rate per day R4500 in the 

first year ............................................................................................................................ k 

Annexure I: Gateway Approval Letter (Lesotho Tourism Development Authority) ............m 

 



 

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1. Introduction  

1.1. Background  

Lesotho is a landlocked country in South Africa, situated, approximately 450-550 km from 

major cities in South Africa (Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban). Tourism industry in 

Lesotho has been studied by few scholars (Lekoatsa, 2023). Government of Lesotho 

(GOL), international development institutions (World Bank, & World Economic Forum) even 

private sector have been looking to invest or develop policies to improve livelihoods of the 

citizens or economic development (Bob, Swart, Perry & Gouden, 2020; Schwab, 2019; 

Makwindi & Ndlovu, 2022). Lesotho has natural resources such as diamonds, high altitudes 

mountains, thrilling landscape sceneries, including major dams exporting water to South 

Africa’s largest economy of Gauteng (Tourism Guide Africa, 2023).  “Katse Dam is the 

single biggest export product, making 23.5% of export basket” (Mantshantsha, 2007). 

Lesotho is untapped and least explored is its tourism economy, which is of pivotal value to 

make the country visible in its offering and to improve its attractiveness to the tourists and 

investors (Rasethuntsa, 2022b).  

Tourism economy is influenced by the role the government plays to unlock it, all sectors of 

economy one way or the other have aspects of tourism such as “infra- structure, 

investment, labour training and supply, communications, utilities), agriculture, primary 

industry, health and welfare, education, youth development, small business, women’s 

affairs, mining, customs & immigration” (Keois, 2019). In Lesotho and many parts of 

Southern Africa, the means of production for rural areas have changed dependence on 

food security from agriculture to tourism and other means of earning income. Makwindi et 

al. (2022) mentions that diversification and heritage tourism play a crucial role catering for 

the needs of the tourists in Lesotho.  

1.2. Tourism Global Market  

In 2018, the global number of tourists reached 1.4 billion as it was estimated in 2016. The 

same year (2018) was the seventh in a row since the global tourism exports (+4%) 

superseded merchandise exports (+3%) (Calderwood & Soshkin, 2019). Sub-Saharan 

Africa is reported to have the largest improvement in Travel & Tourism Development Index 

(TTDI) although the region still lacks behind compared to the rest of the other regions due 

to other factors such as lack of infrastructure, marketing for the region/countries (World 

Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), 2022). Mauritius ranks highest at 62 followed by South 

Africa at 68. Although South Africa is the largest (T&T) economy in Africa interns of volume 



 

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and development. Africa’s tourism competitive advantage lies on many factors including 

low price and nature tourism, of which Lesotho has advantage if it wants to develop the 

sector and create jobs.  

Looking at the growth rate of the global sector, Calderwood & Soshkin (2019) forecast that 

traveller’s and tourists’ growth will reach 1.8 billion by 2030. One of the drivers of tourism 

growth is the movement towards more inclusive industry as opposed to the historical 

monopolies of states which have made the industry unattractive.  On the global landscape, 

tourism is perceived as one of the largest contributors to the economies of nations which 

curbs unemployment, contributes to community developments and GDP (Rasethuntsa C. 

B., 2022a).  

One of the major challenges posed by the booming tourism is the environmental impact 

caused by overcrowding, poor capacity of facilities and poor management of the natural 

assets (Schwab, 2019). It is for this reason that the concept of responsible tourism is taking 

the centre stage as environmental experts within the industry advocate for sustainable 

tourism business in view of the future generations and the wellbeing of affected 

communities and environment. 

There are several enabling factors to the global growth of travel and tourism. Currently, the 

most outstanding are the growing affordability of travelling. Many middle-upper class 

people are living beyond basic needs and travelling for leisure (Soshkin & Uppink, 2022), 

going to events/entertainment, is a norm, thus exploring the world becomes a necessity.   

Covid 19 lock down restriction introduced remote working for many companies and use of 

technology, mobile offices can have people working on their laptops while travelling and 

having meeting on zooms/teams anywhere in the world. Of note is the airline industry’s 

affordability that has been a major force towards a flow of the global community into the 

emerging economies (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2022).  

 

In 2019, Lesotho had about 1 million tourists ranking 91 in absolute terms, “smaller 

countries perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests (LTDC, 2019). 

By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Lesotho, the result is gives 

more comparable picture with 0.50 tourists per resident, Lesotho ranked 66th in the world 

and its ranked 2nd” in Southern Africa.  Prior to Covid 19, Lesotho had approximately $24mil 



 

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income from tourism receipts (World Tourism, 2023), approximately 0.96 % of its GPD at 

the time whereas South Africa with 3.9 million tourists generated $2.72bn income (0.6% of 

its GDP) from tourists ranking 22 of most popular countries to travel to in the world.  

1.3. Purpose of the study 

Tourism is one of the most important drivers of economic growth in many developing and 

developed countries (Calderwood & Soshkin, 2019). “It facilitates economic growth through 

job creation, tax revenues, foreign currency earnings, and attracting international 

investment” (Alam & Paramti, 2016). Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) 

identifies tourism as one of its key strategic investment areas to spearhead economic 

growth through diversified tourism economy that spans across a series of government 

departments and national economy to address unemployment problem (Gorvenment of 

Lesotho, 2019). Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation (LDTC) was established by 

GoL as a custodian to identify market opportunities, promote, and market Lesotho tourism 

and has been identified as one of the key stakeholders in this research for conducting 

research. 

 

The study aims to research and develop a new sustainable venture in tourism industry in 

Lesotho within the identified opportunities such as; 1) unique landscape, 2) unique 

culture, 3) industry is in its early stage of development, 4), large number of tourists, 

5) lack of development/facilities in the sector as identified by various research, public 

institutions, intuitive entrepreneurial approach and in-depth analysis of the industry through 

market research. The demand patterns in this market will be studied, the competitors and 

their behaviours will be analysed, and market opportunities explored where the new venture 

can find its place synonymous to research gap.  

 

The strategy is to get into the market will be unique considering the geographical factors, 

landscape, marketing tools used to get access to the customers, and the need of various 

stakeholders such as; government institutions, the public, or investors.  

1.4. Research Objectives   

This research aims to explore Lesotho tourism market with focus on accommodation and 

recreation facilities. To understand the accommodation and recreation sector, the industry 

will also be explored to identify the gaps and opportunities.  



 

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Unlike many countries in the world Lesotho’s tourism market is still in the early phase 

of development regarding tourism industry life cycle. Thus, to establish the gap in the 

market the following objectives will be studied and analysed then one will be established to 

see which area the new venture will operate.  

A. To study the tourism industry in Lesotho and associated industry trends including 

the National Tourism Master Plan and other relevant literature   

B. To assess the market demographics and statistics for the Lesotho tourism industry  

C. To reveal the suitable tourism facilities and/or recreational places in the Kingdom of 

Lesotho and their critical success factors 

D. To determine the challenges and gaps in the tourism industry of Lesotho. 

E. To determine if there is a business in the gap  

F. To determine the best tourism facilities and places which may result into maximum 

returns for the venture  

G. To determine who is the customer in the tourism sector, and what they want 

H. Develop a new venture startup based on tourist’s customer needs. 

1.5. Delimitations of the Study 

Due to the small market size, and its early age stage, there are various opportunities to be 

explored in a form of new markets in the tourism industry as dictated by how the research 

questions and objectives are achieved. The size of the market, large number of tourists i.e., 

more than 1million on a population of 2.2 million shows that the country is a good 

destination for tourists. These tourists need to have places to stay, facilities to enjoy while 

in Lesotho. Thus, the study will focus more on recreational facilities and accommodation 

within tourism sector.  

 

Although the country is still not much developed in infrastructure there is good access roads 

to Lesotho Highlands Water projects and Afriski, the infrastructure and facilities are seen 

to be the corner stone of the tourism industry with ample opportunities for developments. 

Investment on the infrastructure is key to unlock potential of tourism sector. The new 

venture will be limited to the recreational facilities in a tourist sector to offer accommodation 

to tourists who visits Lesotho to enjoy the countryside, scenic mountains, snow and other 

recreational facilities. The venture will evaluate existing opportunities and develop strategy 

for a sustainable competitive advantage.  



 

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1.6. Structure of the Business Venture  

The next section of this report will explore the literature review in detail and find statistics 

and data available in the market, synthesis the data together with the interviews to 

investigate why people travel to Lesotho, what they would like Lesotho to offer as a tourism 

destination. These will help refine the target market and segmentation thereof. Market 

Analysis including who the competitors are will be analysed in detail using known 

theoretical models such as; SWOT Analysis, Porters Five Forces and PESTELG. The 

strategy of the new venture will be proposed, will it be red ocean strategy, blue ocean 

strategy or connected strategy? These questions will be answered in a way that find best 

alternative method to position the venture as profitable company. Operational methods and 

strategies, processes will be formulated. Marketing strategies will be developed. The 

regulatory environment will also be discussed to protect the interest of investors. The cost 

of operating, marketing will be developed and funding models to raise required capital will 

be proposed to check viability of the business and calculate the return on investment (ROI) 

of the venture as well as any appropriate measures of returns for the investors.  

2. Systematic Review of Literature  

2.1. Introduction  

The literature review will explore the tourism market globally, study travel patterns of 

tourists and what increases the demand for tourists in Lesotho and explore what factors 

inspire travellers in and out of Lesotho. The literature review will study Lesotho as a tourist 

destination. All the factors making up tourism market such as infrastructure, accessibility to 

and from point of attractions will be discussed including supply and demand factors.  

 

The role of government and relevant stakeholders will be discussed in detail in how they 

make environment conducive for private sector to do business. National Tourism Policy 

(NTP), and the role of various stakeholders in tourism development will be discussed to 

make it easier for investors to understand the value chain of the market. Theoretical 

frameworks such as PESTEL, SWOT Analysis will be used to study Lesotho tourism 

industry. SWOT analysis tool will be used to identify the gap/opportunities in the market.  

2.2. Benefits and Challenges  

2.2.1. The National Tourism Policy (NTP) 

NTP is blueprint and guide for tourism stakeholders such as entrepreneurs to develop the 

market. Prior to Covid-19, government of Lesotho had already started on policies looking 



 

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into the future of tourism sector (Gorvenment of Lesotho, 2019).  The vision of the tourism 

sector as enshrined by the NTP (2019) is that “Lesotho’s tourism sector will be inclusive, 

robust and vibrant, making a major contribution to economic growth through responsible 

tourism practices, conservation, preservation and promotion of Lesotho’s environmental 

and cultural assets”. The following are the foreseeable benefits for the sector and country 

as well, with these lies opportunities for development.  

(1) “Increase foreign earnings in a sustainable manner, thereby increasing private and 

government revenues and employment.  

(2) Expand the development, promotion and provision of services in remote areas 

ensuring that local communities benefit from tourism and contribute to the appeal 

of the country;  

(3)  Contribute to improved quality of life of the resident population by providing 

recreational opportunities.  

(4) Develop a favourable national image by (i) fostering national pride and cohesion, (ii) 

promoting travel in Lesotho, and (ii) encouraging local and foreign investment”. 

2.2.2. Tourism Sector Challenges  

One of the key challenges facing the industry is the lack of awareness, and visibility of the 

industry to the global market.  Planning a trip to Lesotho can be challenge to international 

tourists as the country is land landlocked and tourist pass through South Africa. The 

accommodation and hotels are not up to par with international standards and bed 

occupancy rate can be as low as (20%) (Yiu, Saner & Lee, 2015). Lack of understanding 

of tourism essentials, hospitality and customer service, limited understanding of high level 

of service required in tourism industry (Rasethuntsa, 2022a). Mantshantsha (2007) 

mentioed that Katse Lodge overlooking the dam was in a state of disrepair due to 

abondonment by gorvnment, there are also other toutism facilities not taken care such as 

Sehlaba Thebe National Park (Makwindi & Ndlovu, 2022). 

The implication is that there are plans in Lesotho to not only handover tourism business to 

the private sector, but to also support private sector through promoting the tourism 

businesses and revenue creation.  However, it is also worth noting that recreational 

activities are implied as a missing solution to the industry’s attractiveness. The involvement 



 

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of private sector is profit driven, the risks of limited infrastructure, lack of facilities and 

maintenance pose risks to profitability of facilities (Yiu, et al., 2015). International Trade 

Administration (2024) is one of the stakeholders calling for private sector’s participation in 

as investors. One way of unlocking potential of the market is via strategic public partnership 

projects (PPP). PPP have been seen working in other countries in Africa i.e. Seychelles 

tourism master plan includes investor master plan with its tourism contributing about 30 % 

of its GPD and wanted to leverage investor power (Seychelles Investment Board (SIB), 

2023). South Africa has also used many projects for PPPs via institutions such IDC 

responsible for economic development finance for infrastructure to create jobs. However, 

National Treasury Toolkit for tourism around National Parks still needs improvements to 

bridge policy and implementation (de Kock,  2020). In Lesotho, PPP have been done in 

health sector and was not successful and lessons can be learned from South Africa. An 

Example of failed PPP in Lesotho is Tshepong Hospital that was operated and financed by 

Netcare South Africa until 2021 although the PPP failed on 13th year due to both parties 

not fulfilling envisaged term of 18-year contract (Areff, 2021). 

2.3. Empirical Review of Literature  

2.3.1. Introduction  

Rasethuntsa (2022a) indicated that the tourists perspective on private sector showed 

distatisfaction on accomodation, cars, reasturants, retail shops and infrastructure. In this 

literature review more will be investigated regarding the tourists to better the offering of the 

market, this will include viz:  

• who the tourists are,  

• their demographics profile,  

• evaluate and critic the state of the market,  

• find out what courses the need for travelling,  

• what motivates them to travel to Lesotho as place of destination? 

• what challenges the industry has and what opportunities are there and finally?  

• what does the market need per segments.  

 

The synthesis of the literature is provided in Table 1 below per themes to identify what 

makes up the tourism market in Lesotho, how developed the market is, what are the needs 



 

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of the consumers and whether there are opportunities to be seized via a creation of a new 

venture.  

Table 1 Identification of Research gap/market opportunities 

Theme No. of 

Articles 

References Research Gap/Business Opportunity 

Job Creation  5 Alan et al 

(2016) 

➢ Identifying market segments in tourism 
for viable business ventures to employ  

➢  

Market 

development  

4 University of 

Pretoria (2018 

➢ Latest date on supply & demand in 
tourism industry  

➢ No mention in the literature regarding 
Maletsuinyane braai festival on 
seasonal tourism.  

➢ Profitability  

Tourism 

Development  

6 Keois et al 

(2019) 

Soshkin et al 

(2022) 

➢ Lesotho has natural attractions. 
➢ Lack of tourism infrastructure  
➢ Industry still in early development  

 

Limited 

Tourism 

Facilities  

3 Keois et al 

(2019), 

(Rasethuntsa, 

2022a) 

➢ Need for new tourism facilities.  
➢ Need new Tourism offering product 

differentiation. 
 

Tourism 

Awareness 

6 Yiu et al (2015) 

Benett et al 

(2023) 

➢ Customer needs in Lesotho tourism 
market 

➢ The needs of South African tourists 
in Lesotho (market analysis),  

➢ Identifying opportunities for a new 
venture 

 
 

Customer 

Service  

4 Bob et al 

(2022) 

Yiu et al (2023)  

➢ Basotho lacks customer care in tourism 
industry  

➢ Needs of international tourists in 
Lesotho 

Tourism 

Marketing & 

Market 

Access 

3 Makwindi et al 

(2022) 

➢ Cultural behaviour in tourism industry 
➢ Business tourism research in Lesotho 

 

 



 

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2.3.2. Demographics Profile 

In the following section, the discussions focus on the composition of Lesotho tourism 

market prior to the pandemic.  

2.3.2.1. Annual Tourist Arrivals 

According to the Lesotho Visitor (Lesotho Development Corporation, 2017) each year, 

tourists visit Lesotho for scenic spots, mountains, and rich culture. These tourists get their 

information mainly from their friends and relatives, websites, and the guidebook. Visitors 

predominantly organize these trips themselves, with only a few using travel agents. Figure 

1 below shows that there are varying numbers of visitors to Lesotho each year. The highest 

number of visitors was in 2016, with a total of 1 196 214, while the lowest numbers were in 

2014, with a total of 1 078 510, 2019 experienced a decline of 2.6%. This could be 

attributable to various factors, including the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which 

restricted movement across borders. The fact that friends and relatives are major sources 

of information confirms that there is very little that is done to market tourism in Lesotho.  

 

Figure 1: Number of arrivals by year Source: (LTDC, 2019) 

Most of the visitor’s access the country through Maseru bridge, followed by Maputsoe 

bridge, as shown in Figure 2 below. This is mainly due to ease of access, better 



 

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infrastructure, and their proximity to the capital city of Maseru, and the second largest town 

of Maputsoe. Lesotho is landlocked in South Africa’s via well-developed road network via 

a total of 15 border gates, with most arrivals coming from and via SA and main ports of 

entry are; Maseru Bridge (43.6 % of arrivals), Ficksburg (30.7 %), Caledoonsport (11.6 %). 

With 13,652 arrivals, Moshoeshoe airport accounted for only 1.1% of visitor arrivals. The 

main national trunk routes are the A1 from Maseru to Butha-Buthe and on to Mokhotlong 

(280 km) and Sani Pass, and the A2, tarred road from Maseru to Moyeni (Quthing), Mount 

Moorosi and on to Mphaki (248 km)”. 

 

Figure 2: Visitor arrivals by border in 2019. Source: (LTDC, 2019) 

Over 90% of the visitors are coming through the borders and almost the same percentage 

of the market comes from SA by which Lesotho is completely landlocked. “With 12,401 

arrivals in 2015 and 13,652 arrivals in 2016, Moshoeshoe I International Airport is operating 

currently at a low utilization level with only three outbound and inbound flights a day 

operated by South African Airlink.” (Keois, 2019). Considering the contribution that good 

aviation infrastructure has on tourism in many countries, it can be concluded that the low 

functionality of the Moshoeshoe 1 airport is a contributing factor to low rate of international 



 

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visitors. But with some plans underway to “extend the runway and improve terminal 

building” it can be expected that international tourism will in the future improve. 

2.3.2.2. Arrival’s Mode of Transport and Purpose 

Figure 3 below confirms that over 95% of tourists enter the country by land transport. The 

reasons have been explained above, but it can be further determined that direct connection 

of airlines to Lesotho will in the future contribute to the increased tourism. World Travel & 

Tourism Council ( (2022) has explained that the more open the developing countries are to 

the international community and the ease of reaching such destinations contributes to 

increased demand for tourism exports. Figure 3 also indicates that between 2010 and 2016, 

the number of vacation visitors has increased and to replace travelling for personal 

reasons.  

     

 Figure 3: Arrival by mode of transport and purpose. Source: UNWTOe (2021). 

2.3.2.3. International Tourism Markets 

SA remains the main source of international arrivals to Lesotho. Over 90% of inbound 

tourism is from SA markets as per Table 2. This is mainly due to its proximity to the country. 

The 2017 visitor exit survey and the annual arrivals and accommodation report of 2019 

also indicates that most visitors and tourists to Lesotho live in SA and travel for leisure 

purposes, just as do most visitors from Europe and North America. About 6% of the market 

is from oversees.  Potentially, the greater market that visit SA could be drawn to Lesotho. 



 

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Table 2 below is more elaborate in that it shows the number of visitors over four years 

starting from 2014 to 2017, in essence it shows that there is a constant and reliable demand 

for Lesotho tourism. But the fact that it has been flat for some time may be seen as an 

indicator that the quality of Lesotho’s tourism output has remained unimproved. 

Table 2: Number of arrivals in 2017. Source: Lesotho Visitor Exit Survey (2017) 

 

Table 2 also shows that Lesotho’s market is heavily dependent on SA. Reaching Lesotho 

from oversees can inhibiting factor this is also an indicator that holistically, the quality of 

Lesotho’s product is not of a standard that draws the international market. A significant 

number of those who visit Lesotho from SA, do so because of some family bonds and 

because Lesotho is their motherland. 

2.3.2.4. Age Group of Visitors 

Figure 4 below indicates, visitors between the ages of 25 and 54 make the highest number 

of visitors.  Of all the visitors, 58% are males, while 42% are females. The fact that it is the 

younger generation that visits Lesotho may be an indication that thrilling adventure can be 

a relevant product to sell.  



 

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Table 3: Leading source markets for visitors to Lesotho. Source: (Keois, 2019)

 

Table 4: Lesotho’s shares of overseas visitors to RSA. Source: (Keois, 2019)

 



 

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Figure 4: Breakdown of visitors by age group. Source: (Lesotho Development Corporation, 

2017). 

2.3.3. Tourists needs. 

Any business exists purely to serve the needs of its customers (Neck, Neck, & Murray, 

2021). Finding what the needs are and how the business can best position itself to capture 

the customers will eventually lead to sustainability of that business. Like any industry, 

tourism sector has drivers for demand. “In 2015, UNTWO statistics showed that 53% of 

international tourist’s arrivals were motivated by holidays, recreation, and leisure, 14 % for 

business related and 27 % by visiting friends/family, cultural and religious activities” (Bob, 

Swart, Perry & Gouden, 2020). As cited by Bob et al., (2020), Camilleri (2018), identifies 

key aspects driving motivations for tourists as follows:  

➢ Attraction, a key initiator to travel to the destinations.  

➢ Accessibility, the ease of getting to the destination. 

➢ Price, the affordability of the tourist regarding the cost of travelling (transport, 

food, accommodation, leisure activities etc) 

➢ Amenities, Level of service, availability of services, quality  

➢ Human resources, trained personnel, or staff to enhance tourist experience.  

➢ Image, branding & perception, associated with the destination, uniqueness, and 

experience by the tourist. 



 

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For the customer/tourist to have good experience at the end of their journey, their needs 

must be fulfilled to have memorable experience so they could recommend the place to their 

friends, or even come back. The establishment of any venture is to ensure that the 

customer needs are met throughout the value chain of the industry. The tourist’s needs 

must be well researched and well known prior to picking up a segment of the market where 

the demand is. Tsambous, Moraiti & Cossu (2010) states the needs of tourist per segment 

in the transportation industry and at the destination as shown in Table 5. A lot can be 

learned from these needs in a new venture in the tourism industry to see which segment to 

venture into. If these needs are not met the tourist’s stay at the destination may be affected. 

 

Table 5 Needs per Tourists segment in the transportation sector (Tsambous et al., 2010).  

Tourist Segment To and from destination At Destination 

TS1 High Income 

Groups 

“Autonomy, Rapidity Efficiency, 

Pleasure Comfort, Sustainability, 

Advance Information, Security” 

“Autonomy, 

Rapidity& Efficiency, 

Pleasure & Comfort, 

Sustainability, 

Information, 

Security” 

TS2 Disabled  “Accessibility, Convenience, 

Safety, Security, Advance 

Information, Pleasure & Comfort” 

“Accessibility, 

Convenience, 

Safety, Security, 

Information” 

TS3 Students, Young 

People 

“Low/special prices, Conviviality, 

Autonomy, Advance Information” 

“Safety& Security, 

Low/special prices, 

Information” 

TS4 Children Under 17 “Safety& Security, Low/special 

prices, Advance information” 

“Safety, Security, 

Convenience, 

Low/special prices, 

Information” 

TS5 Families with 

Children 

“Safety, Security, Convenience, 

Low/special prices, Advance 

Information, Accessibility” 

“Autonomy, 

Information, 

Pleasure & Comfort, 

Sustainability, 

Conviviality “ 

TS6 Adults, Singles, 

Couple  

“Autonomy, Advance Information, 

Pleasure & Comfort, 

Sustainability” 

“Autonomy, 

Information, 

Pleasure & Comfort, 

Sustainability, 

Conviviality” 



 

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TS7 Retired  “Safety& Security, Convenience, 

Comfort, Low/special prices, 

Advance Information, 

Accessibility:” 

“Safety& Security, 

Convenience, 

Comfort, 

Low/special prices, 

Information, 

Accessibility, 

Conviviality” 

TS8 Incoming (new & 

old markets) 

“Convenience, Advance 

Information, Low/ special prices, 

Safety, Security “ 

“Convenience, 

Information, 

Low/special prices, 

Safety, Security “ 

TS9 Business Tourists “Autonomy, Rapidity &Efficiency, 

Pleasure & Comfort, 

Sustainability, Advance 

Information, Security, 

Convenience” 

 

“Autonomy, 

Rapidity& Efficiency, 

Pleasure &Comfort, 

Sustainability, 

Information, 

Security, 

Convenience “ 

 

The aim of the study is to make an offering with clear demand and still be able to meet 

customer needs so as the customer stay can be increased. Like any market, tourism market 

structure is governed by demand and supply (Bennett, Jooste, & Strydom, 2005), the 

research will investigate how both inter-relate, what the demand factors are, needs of 

customers, their motivation, and reasons for travelling. The supply side will look into what 

the industry and market can supply and what the motivation for tourism may be from 

consumer’s side and various stakeholders as shown in the theoretical model developed by 

(University of Pretoria, 2018) as shown in Figure 5. The attraction is the place where there 

is a common interest for state to have development plans and private sector to invest to 

develop the market (Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation, 2019). 

 



 

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Figure 5 Tourism attraction theoretical model (University of Pretoria, 2018) 

2.3.4. Lesotho Tourism Domestic Market  

Lesotho is relatively undeveloped country with unique features, mountains, scenic views 

and relatively low supply of infrastructure, recreational facilities and even accommodation 

making up the supply. Tourism industry has a significant potential to contribute to the 

country’s economic growth (Lekoatsa, 2023). The natural beauty of its majestic mountains 

and rivers, good health implications of its clean air and waters, the historical tourism friendly 

atmosphere and unique culture – all of these and other natural features provide a potential 

to building a successful tourism industry (International Trade Administration, 2024). The 

economic potential of this industry hangs on the fact that the tourism industry cuts across 

all industries as much as its success depends on their successes. For instance, booming 

tourism in any country brings economical boosts to other industries such as 

communication, and so it depends on its efficiency. It contributes to the transport industry, 

which means that it also depends on the efficiency of that industry. It depends on good 

infrastructure, reliable security systems and environmental safety. One can deduct from the 

research that governments which desire to grow their economies via tourism business, 

need to formulate all other national plans in view of their contribution on tourism. Tourism 



 

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master plan highlights the key nodes where tourist attractions can be made to develop the 

market and identifying the roles of various stakeholders including private sector.  

Due to limited amenities, recreational activities, and quality customer service in the tourism 

industry to fulfil tourist’s fulfilment in Lesotho many tourists stay on average 2.8 days (Yiu 

et al., 2015). Leisure tourists on the other hand stay is on average 3.2 nights and the 

industry is very seasonal (Bob, et al., 2020). This signifies low supply of basic tourism 

services.  The hotel and accommodation sector has on average 20 % bed occupancy rate. 

This seem to be very low compared to South Africa at which can be as high as 79 % as of 

December 2022 (StatsSA, 2023).  

 

South Africa is the largest Tourism & Travel sector in South Africa and has market ready 

hotels, facilities appealing for the tourists both locally, from SADC region and 

internationally. Benett, Jooste & Strydom (2005) identified that the low occupancy rate for 

hotels in Lesotho might be due to majority of these hotels not meeting international standard 

i.e. not market ready, it was only 35 % of the accomoadtion facilities that were graded and 

met the standards, which is one of the reasons that could make tourist live only few days 

in Lesotho and leave to nearby South African townns with better facilities such as Clarence. 

The demand for use of tourism services in Lesotho is also made up of locals (2 million 

population) making up domestic demand (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2022).  

2.3.5. Regional & International Tourism  

Lesotho’s proximity to South Africa makes up regional demand of the tourism market in 

Lesotho. Ramukumba & Moeketsi (2020) have profiled the tourists travelling from South 

Africa and found that South African tourists who are majority of tourists to Lesotho travelling 

was motivated by; (in this order): “mountains, scenery, culture, curiosity, diversity of 

attractions, skiing, climate, tranquility, the visiting of friends and family.” 

Lesotho also attracts international tourists looking for unique climate, adventure tourism 

cultural experiences and nature/high altitudes etc. A direct economic contribution of tourism 

industry is about 3.8 % with total of 10.3 % supporting around 43 000 jobs at 6.8% of the 

country’s total employment (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2022). 

The economic contribution of inbound tourism in the country as depicted by Figure 6 below 

is currently very low. The highest contribution it has ever made to the GDP was 2.1% in 

2016. Since then, it has been constant at a 0,9% for 2017, 2018 and 2019 consecutively. 



 

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There is more that is expended outside (import tourism) than what the country attracts in 

terms of foreign currency (export tourism) (UNWTOe, 2021). Does it mean that the country 

has very little to offer compared with the international community? Or is that a little has 

been done to entice the international community to market the national assets. 

  

Figure 6: Tourism expenditure as a fraction of GDP. Source: UNWTOe (2021). 

On average, a tourist spends US$31 in Lesotho (Trading Economics, 2022). This is 

insignificant considering that among the SADC counterparts like SA and Namibia. On 

average a tourist spends about US$150 and US$164 respectively. Therefore, a possibility 

exists that few tourists who visit Lesotho, do not stay long enough or that there are few 

quality goods or services on which they can spend on. In fact, according to the NTMP, on 

average tourists stay for about 3.2 nights with 20% of the accommodation facilities not 

utilized, which means that there is very little activities and facilities that can hold visitors for 

longer stays. The sector currently is responsible for more than 3000 employments. The 

latest figures in Figure 7 below of 2019 indicated that there is about 2,700 employees within 

this industry. The figure could even be lower because of the effects of the pandemic. 



 

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Figure 7: Total number of employees within the industry. Source: UNWTOe (2021). 

Similarly, Figure 8 below indicates that between the years 2010 and 2019, there has been 

a significant expenditure on outbound tourism. Expenditure on inbound travelling has not 

scarcely reached a 100 million mark.  

2.3.6. Most Visited places in Lesotho 

The main places of attraction for visitors to Lesotho are those that provide outdoor 

adventure (Tourism Guide Africa, 2023). The country’s remote highlands, rocky 

escarpments, streams and rivers, and unpolluted mountain air are ideal for adventure 

seeking travellers. These places have paths, which have been created by years of Basotho 

travelling between villages and pasturelands and are ideal for trekking and hiking through 

scenic places, which also attract birdwatchers, while rivers and streams provide 

opportunities for trout fishing and fly-fishing.  

 

 

 

 

 



 

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Table 6 and Figure 9 below show the most visited places in Lesotho, which are 

predominantly characterized by the abovementioned features. Although tourism seems to 

be spread throughout the country, the top three places are Katse Dam, Sani Pass and 

Afriski which account for greater percentages are in the North of Lesotho.  

 

Figure 8: Tourism outbound and inbound travel. Source. UNWTOe (2021). 

 
 Figure 9: Most visited places in 2017 by percentage. Source: LTDC (2017 

 



 

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Table 6: Most visited places by districts. Source: LTDC (2019). 

 PLACE VISITED DISTRICT % share 

1 Katse Dam Thaba-Tseka 15% 

2 Afri Ski Mokhotlong 13% 

3 Sani Pass Mokhotlong 13% 

4 Semonkong Village Maseru 10% 

5 Maletsunyane Falls Maseru 7% 

6 Thaba-Bosiu Heritage Site Maseru 6% 

7 Malealea Village Maseru 6% 

8 Oxbow Butha-Buthe 6% 

9 Tšehlanyane National Park Butha-Buthe 3% 

10 Mohale Dam Maseru 6% 

11 
Morija Museum and 

Archives Maseru 2% 

12 Roma Dinosaur prints Maseru 5% 

13 Other  8% 

2.3.7. Accommodation & Recreational Facilities 

 As much as there is little foreign income received from inbound tourism, and the fact that 

recreation accounts for an even lower income warrants a need to explore the demand 

patterns and customer’s needs (University of Pretoria, 2018). Tourists spend less for 

cultural and recreational services than for any other tourism products such as 

accommodation and restaurants (Makwindi & Ndlovu, 2022). That is because there is very 

little creation of recreation services in the country than there is for other services. So, there 

is a little that tourists can do in Lesotho. So, the accommodation segment depends on the 

recreational activities within the industry. When there are attractive activities around, the 

visitors are likely to utilize the nearby accommodation. At the same time, when 

accommodation is available, tourist will most likely utilize the nearby recreational activities. 

This explains why tourists stay for a short period in Lesotho and why most accommodation 

establishments are not satisfactorily utilized. It is because there is very little activities which 



 

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have the potential to keep visitors longer. This in turns explains the reason for the little 

contribution of the industry to the economy. As a result of these gaps and demands in the 

market, a study was needed to identify a business gap within the industry for new industry 

entrants. 

2.3.8. Most Undertaken Recreational Activities 

As noted in  

 

 

 

 

Table 6, the main recreational activities offered by the visited sites in Lesotho includes 

sightseeing, 4x4 and pony trekking, hiking, and biking, with the special activity of skiing and 

snowboarding offered by Afriski. This is also noted in the study of LTDC (2017), which 

highlighted the same activities as shown in Figure 10. The figures indicate that sightseeing 

was the most popular activity for visitors, followed by hiking and pony trekking respectively. 

Hiking is mainly preferred by tourists coming from Europe and USA. For most leisure 

tourists, the top five most popular were General Sightseeing, Hiking, Skiing, 4x4 Trekking 

and Biking.  

 

These are therefore clear leisure market activities in Lesotho. Lesotho offers very different 

activities at different times of the year. Analysis by month clearly shows the popularity of 

Skiing in July through August, Biking in December, fishing in January through April, and 

Rock Climbing in June-August. It is noted that general sightseeing is a common activity 

among all visitors with South Africans doing adventure activities such as 4×4 trekking, 

mountain biking and skiing. On the other hand, overseas visitors mainly visit iconic, well-

publicised natural, cultural attractions. 



 

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Figure 10: Main recreational activities:  SA visitors: Source: Lesotho Exit Visitors Survey 

(2017).  

2.3.9. Most Utilised Accommodation Establishments 

Figure 11 below shows that by 2019, the number of accommodation establishments were 

less than 175. Since 2010 through 2019, there has been a flatter increase of these 

establishments. 

Figure 11: Total number of establishments. Source: UNWTOe (2021) 

The Lesotho Visitor Exit Survey 2017 has revealed that majority of tourists prefer to stay in 

hotels or lodges. However, tourists from USA prefer to use either Bed and Breakfast 

establishments, camping, or staying with friends/family. This means that the tourism 



 

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industry in Lesotho needs to invest more in hotels, lodges and B&Bs, as per tourists’ 

preferences. This is because statistics show that between 2018 and 2019, Lesotho had 

more guest houses than other types of accommodation, followed by lodges and B&Bs. 

Despite hotels being the most preferred by tourists, they rank fourth in terms of their 

availability in the country (see Figure 12 below). 

 

Figure 12: Number by types of accommodation establishment. Source: LTDC (2019). 

2.3.10. Lesotho’s Industry ranking  

According to the Schwab (2019), Lesotho was ranked as low as 128th in 2017 and 124th in 

2019 tourism global index. This number improved to 111 in 2021 (Soshkin & Uppink, 2022). 

One of the key factors contributing to the low rankings compared to other countries is that 

the industry is largely unexploited and still in the early stage of development. This reaffirms 

the notion that has already been raised that more work must be done to make the industry 

a world class tourism destination (World Tourism, 2023). The government of Lesotho has 

begun to see the role of the private sector as central to the advancement of the tourism 

industry. At an international level, UNWTO’s expertise has also been co-opted to assist 

with the legal framework, strategy, research, and relevant models. Currently, the UNWTO 

is reviewing the existing strategies and policies (UNWTOc, 2021). Lesotho was named by 

New York Times as one of 52 places to visited by New York Times (MOTT, 2020) making 

it one of the places desired by international tourists.  



 

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2.3.11. Market Opportunity & Research Gaps 

According to Tsambous, Moraiti, & Cossu (2010) customer’s needs is a driving force to 

establish new ventures and new markets. The factors making up the demand and supply 

in tourism industry in Lesotho have been identified, 

The following are the unique attributes of the industry identifying where the possible 

business opportunities/research gaps can arise for investment purposes by private sector 

for consideration before launching new ventures: 

➢ LDTC tourism master plan identifies its tourism industry as a unique opportunity 

because of its early stage of market development and breath-taking scenery of its 

landscape. (Mantshantsha, 2007) 

➢ Lesotho has opportunity to reposition itself in a competitive position in SADC region 

to attract tourist from neighbouring countries in the Regions especially tourists from 

South Africa (Ramukumba & Moeketsi, 2020) 

➢ Lesotho is a landlocked country in South Africa and must take opportunity to attract 

tourists from South Africa i.e., the largest Travel & Tourism Industry (T&T) in Africa 

➢ South Africa’s T&T market is a sophisticated one attracting tourists from all over the 

world and if Lesotho grow its numbers, the offering must have a mix of price 

sensitive products as well as for upmarket products with taste of international 

tourists. 

➢ High altitude: The country is regarded as the only country in the world entirely 

1000m above sea level (European Space Agency, 2007) 

➢ The highest point in Southern Africa, Thabana Ntlenyana at 3482km above sea 

level, is found on the Drakensberg range that divides Lesotho and SA on the far 

North of the Mountain Kingdom 

➢ The lofty mountains of Lesotho have formed thrilling passes and water falls which 

are a subject of every primary school social or history studies. 

➢ The regular snow fall in the country is an attractive feature for tourists. 

➢ The highlands culture is unique and authentic. 

➢ Accommodation and Recreational and facilities for different offerings. 



 

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3. Research Framework & Methodology  

3.1. Introduction  

This chapter is going to explore the steps that are needed to show how the new venture in 

tourism is going to be explored, the purpose of the study is to use existing literature, develop 

a framework to identify the gaps in tourism market, both in demand and supply side, and 

check where the opportunities are in line with the literature. This chapter gives 

methodology, study design overview, identifying relevant stakeholders and specifying the 

target market group and designing the interview, population size and sampling technique 

as per (Sekaran, 2003).   

3.2. Venture Proposal Approach   

The data given in the literature review is however broad and to narrow the scope, the study 

will focus on a qualitative /case study with interviews to get perspective of what the tourists 

want as far as recreational facilities and adventure tourism is concerned to increase the 

supply side of the tourism market. This venture proposal approach is going to be product 

based & customer centric approach. Tourism service is a highly customer focused industry 

(Yiu, et al., 2015; Elands & Lengkeek, 2000).  Bennett et al., (2005) mentions that suppliers 

in tourism services must have a good understanding of their customers motivations and 

expectations to have a competitive advantage.   

Rasethuntsa (2022), Dun & Bradstreet (2023) identified that the following needs from 

research gaps were identified: 

➢ Need of tourism facilities  

➢ Need of better service delivery (Basotho have limited understanding of tourism 

occupancy rate)- Marketing.  

The unit of measure of analysis will both be the market and the customers (tourist). The 

venture proposal explores the market to see which idea would be explored within the 

market, the provision of recreational facilities has been identified. The proposal thus shall 

be set forth to achieve high customer service, good product liked by the consumer, below 

are opportunities, or markets to explore for a new venture:  

➢ Limited infrastructure, tourism development is linked to infrastructure and influx of 

tourists appreciate good infrastructure to plan their trips. 

➢ Limited recreational facilities, this is an opportunity for service offering for a new 

venture. 



 

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➢ Poor customer service, tourism is a service industry to increase occupancy rate 

customer service with marketing initiatives to appeal to a customer will have to be 

enhanced. 

➢ No understanding of tourism market, tourism in Lesotho is still in early stage. 

➢ Low occupancy rate  

➢ Tourists visits Lesotho and sleep in hotels /BnBs in nearby South African Towns 

➢ Strong cultural tourism  

➢ Business tourism on the rise; limited places of entertainment, relax & play, 

conferencing.  

➢ Kids & Entertainment places, there is no mention of this in the literature review.  

➢ Adventure tourism but limited information on the supply & demand. The 

recommendations of national tourism master plan mention a few ideas. 

➢ Implementation of tourism master plan and role of private sector is considered in 

this proposal as part of the ideas to base a new venture on.  

➢ BnBs across the country 

➢ Development of new venture based on entrepreneurial ideas. 

➢ Improvement of existing offerings to complement existing staffed market. 

3.3. Tourist Needs & Theoretical Framework  

3.3.1. Tourist Typologies/Mode of experience  

In both South Africa & Lesotho have traditionally tourism information has traditionally 

been done using demographics, socio-economic statutes, race, income group, 

geography (University of Pretoria, 2018). However, there has been increasing demand 

for understanding motivation for travelling leading to focus on psychographic typologies 

for both domestic and international tourist (Bennett et al., 2005). Typology of tourism is 

understanding the underlaying the needs and reasons for travelling and develop the 

products that are best suited to customers’ needs and tastes. Two theoretical models 

(cognitive normative) are used in this proposal namely, Cohen Model (Modern 

Pilgrimage) as shown Table 7 and Plog’s model (Psychographic model) as shown in 

Figure 13 respectively.  



 

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Table 7 Phenomenology of tourism experiences (Elands & Lengkeek, 2000) 

 

According to Cohen model, the tourism offering in Lesotho can meet all the criteria. 

However according to Plog, the pschographic continuum to explain the tourism 

behavior is categorised according to:  

 

Allocentric: These tourists have impulsive interest patterns, they are explorers 

seeking under developed destinations (international tourist interested in adventure 

tourism travelling to Lesotho can be classified here). Undeveloped tourists 

destinations are classified in this region. 

Mid Centric:  

The normally distributed curve, with tourist numbers on the vertical axis shows the 

mid centric is where the tourism numbers are high and development also high. The 

aim is to push tourism development in Lesotho to near allocentric, to bring tourism 

developments hotels, restaurants, recreation, and other facilities.  

Psychocentric: Tourists falling into this category are those travelling to familiar 

places, they are not adventurers.  



 

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Figure 13 Psychographic Position of destinations  

Plog’s model can also be used to link income to different tourists, the lower income groups 

are said to be more psychocentric travelling to the place they know, with known budget and 

no surprises as they may be constrained by their income such as University students as 

well as low-income group families in Lesotho.  The upper income groups are normally not 

constrained by income and are likely to be allocentric.  

For a venture proposal, the interest to an entrepreneur & investor will be:  

➢ Tourist numbers making up sales (volumes of the product offerings), As per Figure 

13, Mid-Centric tourist are likely to be the target market 

➢ Less cost of operations (better profit margins) 

➢ Innovative product offering that cannot easily be copied by competitors.  

 

Thus, the research interview will be set forth to give answers in terms of consumers want 

and package it in a way that appeals to the entrepreneur and investors. 

3.4. Venture Proposal Design  

The methodology seeks to find answer the following research questions by asking through 

being direct as opposed to general perspective of the literature review:  

N
u

m
b

e
r 

o
f 

T
o

u
ri
s
ts

 



 

31 | P a g e  

 

➢ What type of amenities can the tourists appreciate that will lead to company 

offering? 

➢ Who is the target customer?  

➢ What level of service (customer service) can the company have in line with 

international Standards 

➢ What are the motivations for travelling to Lesotho?  

➢ How much are customers willing to pay for world class tourism service in 

Lesotho?  

➢ What type of marketing initiatives can the proposed venture use to get the right 

customers? 

➢ Who are the stakeholders? 

➢ The following stakeholders have been identified.  

o Domestic and International tourists.  

o Funders & Banks  

o Angel Investors  

o Government departments for various applications for legal approvals  

▪ (public works, water & sanitation, environmental  

o State Owned Companies:  

▪ Lesotho Development Corporation  

o NGOs  

o Tour operators 

o Competitors (other facilities suppliers, hotels)  

3.5. Tourism Demand  

3.5.1. Demographics & numbers 

The following demographics data is used as the guide to see where the consumers may 

come from, what makes up the numbers in the market, what market segment to explore:  

➢ The highest number of visitors was in 2016, with a total of 1 196 214 in 2016, 

hitting 1.2mil in 2018 with 3.1% increase from 2017 as per (Lesotho Times , 2019) 

➢ Most of the visitor’s access the country through Maseru bridge 493413 and 

Ficksburg with 322 766 arrivals. 

➢ Over 90% of the visitors are coming through the borders and almost the same 

percentage of the market comes from SA (1 081 227) 



 

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➢ The number of tourists visiting Lesotho has been flat for years, showing lack of 

improvement for quality of Lesotho tourism offering.  

 

➢ Between 2014 -17,58% of visitors were male, and the age group was between 25 

-54 

➢ The majority of visitors are 25-34 years, suitability for adventure tourism products.  

➢ The top 5 most visited place are; Katse Dam, Afri-Ski, Sani Pass, Maletsuinyane 

Fall/Braai Festival, Mohale Dam, Thaba-Bosiu  

3.5.2. Tourism Market Data 

The following attributes in Lesotho Tourism market is noted to show demand in 

tourism in Lesotho (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2022): 

➢ Tourism contributed 13.7 %, 10.6 % and 11.8 % to GDP in 2019, 2020 and 2021 

respectively. 

➢ 12.3 % of jobs created in Lesotho are in tourism  

➢ In 2019, domestic tourists spent R4 914.6milion (93 %) and international 

spending R344.2 mil (7%) i.e., 2% of the GDP 

➢ In the same period, leisure spending for domestic market was $22.7 mil (6%) 

and business spending was $333.2 mil (94%) 

➢ Thus, tourism market in Lesotho is a significant market,  

The supply side on the industry is also noted by some researchers such Rasethuntsa, 

(2022) and Yiu et al., (2015) to have limited accomodation and recreational facilities not up 

to international standards. 

3.5.3. Research Approach  

The research is exploratory in nature, going into the market that is not fully established yet 

with a variety of possible ideas for a new venture, thus the methodology follows qualitative 

research approach structured via interviews to answer the study objectives & research 

questions. Explorotory research is undertaken when there is limited information available 

about the subject, extensive literature review is needed or detailed information can be 

obtained via qualitative surveys from subject surveys, interviews (Sekaran, 2003). 

Although, there is information available about Lesotho tourism market, this information is 



 

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at macro level and detailed qualitative survey would give a good indication in terms of how 

the research participants feel about the subject , who will be selected carefully for reliability 

of data.  

3.5.4. Population  

The population size will be treated as tourists that that have travelled to Lesotho both form 

Lesotho, South Africa or abroad, business owners or entrepreneurs in the tourism industry, 

industry leaders as shown in Annexure A of the interview questions.  

3.5.5. Interview Design  

The interview questions were sent to the relevant stakeholders. These stakeholders 

include:  

➢ University students in South Africa  

➢ Basotho in Lesotho 

➢ Basotho in Diaspora 

➢ International Tourists  

a) Basotho in Lesotho (Domestic Market) 

o What are your travelling motivations and needs? 

o What are their challenges as tourists in Lesotho?  

o What would improve tourism market in Lesotho? 

o What type of services they would like?  

o How much are you willing to pay for tourism recreational facilities, 

accommodation?  

b) Basotho in Diaspora 

o Location  

o How often do they visit home  

o What type of services would they prefer from tourism market in Lesotho  

o How much are you willing to pay for tourism services, accommodation, 

recreational facilities in Lesotho with international standard? 

c) South Africans travelling to Lesotho 

o What are the needs of South African tourists in Lesotho?  

o What would like to see in Lesotho?  

o What would you like to do? 



 

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o How can the tourism market be improved? How much are you willing to 

pay for tourism services, accommodation, recreational facilities in Lesotho 

with international standard? 

d) International Tourists  

o Location (country)  

o What tourism services would make you extend your stay in Lesotho?  

o What are the types of tourism facilities that the tourists would like in 

Lesotho? 

o How much are you willing to pay for tourism services, accommodation, 

recreational facilities in Lesotho with international standard? 

3.5.6. Sampling Technique 

The interviews were made available online to get info from the above-mentioned target 

groups via in-person interviews, online interviews distributed via various social media 

platforms such as Facebook, watsup, linkedin and email. The results were analysed in 

terms of groups responses per themes such as; needs for travelling, motivations, tourism 

experiences, standard of accommodation facilities recreation, service of staff needs will be 

analysed. These themes have sub questions that will enable the research to understand 

the customer and hence the offering of the venture and determine the market 

segmentation.  

3.5.7. Data Collection 

The data collection method includes both primary and secondary data, primary data is from 

this research, questionnaire, and interviews. Whereas secondary data is from existing 

publications such as government publication (LTDC, 2019) and tourism industry in general 

(Dun & Bradstreet , 2023). All data used to make the decision regarding the viability of this 

venture proposal.  

 

The primary data collection method used is a questionnaire and interviews attached in 

Annexure A that were sent on LinkedIn to reach a wide range of tourists that have travelled 

to Lesotho.  The participants were selected randomly for people who have travelled to 

Lesotho.  

The participants were select regardless of their background, education or geographic 

location and specifically used Accommodation Facilities or recreational Facilities in Lesotho 

to get their perspective of the market. The questionnaire and interviews have direct 



 

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interaction with the participant to get their insight on the subject and was structured in 

themes and standardised form as shown in Annexure A.   

3.6. Data Analysis  

3.6.1. Thematic Analysis 

Thematic analysis (inductive reasoning approach) is a qualitative approach used to 

organise, identify themes, and categories in the data (Bougie, 2019). The data is grouped 

to determine related themes, responses of similar nature. These themes can be derived 

from a carefully structured interviews questions as shown in Annexure A and responses 

analysed via a process of coding, in which relevant data segments were labelled or 

assigned codes (Soiferman, 2010). “The goal of thematic analysis is to identify themes, i.e. 

patterns in the data that are important and interesting and use these themes to address the 

research or say something about an issue”  (Delahunt & Maguire, 2017).



 

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4. Key Findings 

4.1. Customer Needs for Tourists in Facilities and Recreation 

The data collection for the tourists that have travelled to Lesotho, is used as an indication 

to find information on who is the customer, how they travel to place of destination, what are 

their interests and how can the market be segmented so the customers can be marketed 

on the offerings they want. The findings are summarised below:  

• The responses and travelling patterns behaviours of the tourists interviewed is 

attached in Annexure C 

• The demographic profile of people interviewed included age group of 32-51  

• 8 males and 3 females, total of 11 participants  

• All groups have diverse background, ethnicity, language, and countries of origin,  

• The tourist countries of origin included: South Africa (4), Botswana (3), Zimbabwe 

(1) Lesotho (4) of which 3 are Basotho in diaspora with Lesotho being country of 

birth. 

• A car is prevalent mode of transport though various border from South Africa, 

Maseru being the most common, other access through the country includes airplane 

through OR Tambo. 

• 3/11(27.2%) participants travelled to Lesotho for Business purposes. 

• 5/11 (45.5%) participants travelled for leisure and to see family and friends. 

• 8/11 (72.7) participants showed Interest in nature and culture as a leading attraction 

for travel to Lesotho.  

• Lesotho Highlands Water Project is mentioned as a leading attraction by 5/11 

(45.5%) participants as both tourist attraction place as well as place to visit for work 

purposes.  

• Participant number Ref#6 believed Lesotho tourism Industry is still drive through 

Africa and has potential and good experience for doors looking for outdoors 

activities.  

• Most of the participants have travelled abroad, and live in South Africa, and are 

aware of the tourism standard as a service, accommodation, and recreational 

facilities South Africa, which is the largest market in the Southern Africa and 

believed Lesotho tourism services are affordable with once participant saying with 

exception of Afriski.145 



 

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• The participants did not have any problem with the cost of accommodation facilities 

they used, some even saying its cheaper, one can argue that the cost is low 

because of lack of variety of services, leisure activities.  

• The participants believed Basotho are friendly people and would want to go back to 

Lesotho again. 

• Only one participant ref#11, who travelled for work purposes on one of the diamond 

mines believed that the cost of the facilities offered by the mine was expensive than 

in South Africa, this could be due to lack of supply and high demand in the area.  

4.2. Segmenting Customers Accommodation and Recreational Facilities 

4.2.1. Limitations  

The study has limitation to collect data in the market to get a thorough 

understanding of customers profile, demographics, psychotropic and behavioural 

patterns due to limited time of conducting full market research as may be the case 

for real business plan.  

4.2.2. Accommodation Facilities  

In establishing, the segment of the market for accommodation facilities and 

recreational facilities respectively, the following will be considered. Allen, Reichheld, 

& Hamilton (2006) metioned that in segmenting the market one has to understand 

the customer and develop a product and services meeting the needs of the 

customers . The folllowing factors are key for makert segmentation. Development 

type, price, culture and marketing. 

a) Development Type 

• The participants mentioned a wide range of facilities available, on budget, 

however, Yiu et al., (2015) mentions that there are limited accommodation 

facilities available in Lesotho, with majority staying on average of 3.2 nights.  

This could be due to lack of recreational facilities except the sightseeing.  

• According to Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation (2022), the hotel 

establishment in Lesotho have about 45% followed by guest houses at 28% 

which makes a hotel development with appealing facilities for the customer 

the right establishment for the new venture. 



 

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• Looking at the data published by World Tourism (2023), it shows that 

majority of the tourists to Lesotho are between 25 and 54, in this study 32-

51 age group was studied. Thus, 25 -54 will be considered target group. 

b) Price  

▪ 1/11 (9%) participants believed that accommodation facilities are 

expensive, with Lesotho attracting international tourists with majority 

coming from South Africa, it is imperial that the offering be wide to 

cover a range of prices, in a form of 3 star- 5-star services.  

▪ The package ranges can also offer special prices for team buildings, 

corporate clients and extended stays. 

▪ Discounted onsite facilities for stay in tourists. 

c) Cultural Sensitivity  

• Travelling to Lesotho to see culture and way of living weighs highest 

among the respondents at 8/11 (72%), thus architectural design, 

customizing the décor, land scaping could reflect this.  

d) Marketing Strategy 

▪ In order to make the development profitable, increasing yield and 

margins, and effective marketing and promotions will be key. 

▪ The campaigns that will increase brand awareness, attract more 

customers, and retain loyalty of existing customers will be part of the 

day responsibility of management team. 

4.2.3. Recreational Facilities  

To further make the development appeal to customers, variety of product and 

service offerings will be enhanced to supplement core business activities of 

the hotel, these will include viz: 

• The site for the hotel will be critically selected to align with the 

country’s planned master plan for infrastructure; water, roads 

and tourism nodes as described by: 

✓ Activity preference by tourists 

✓ Family friendly activities, including water theme parks  

✓ Wellness & Relaxation, SPA services  

✓ Adventure and Sports recreation 



 

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✓ Cultural Experience, tours to designated places of 

tourism, where tourists get travel to historical places. 

• Events Spaces  

• Accessibility to amenities  

• Sustainability Initiatives 

• Promotions and Partnerships with social media influencers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

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5. Business Venture Proposal 

5.1. Executive Summary  

The market opportunities exist to develop tourism sector as one of the major contributors 

to the country’s economy at 12.3 % GDP. Tourism is identified as one of the major 

employment contributors and attraction of foreign direct investments  (Lekoatsa, 2023). Job 

creation and participation of private sector has also been identified by LDTC. The tourist’s 

behaviour was explored, what the consumers want, their travel patterns, and how they feel 

about travelling to Lesotho, this new venture proposal seeks to give answers to meet 

customer demands. The market share of hotel & accommodation segment is identified is 

growing positively as the percentage of GDP, and investment in the industry will also result 

in double digit (12.8%) return on investment for 50 room hotel development with initial 

investment of R52mil i.e. Revenue generated in 2019, prior to covid used as the base.  

5.2. Strategy  

5.2.1. About the venture   

The new venture is about responding to the needs of the market, create jobs for the youth 

and contribute to economic development in one of the least developed countries in Africa.  

5.2.2. Business Strategy Framework  

The strategic framework to enter the market is via Value Creation Framework as shown in 

Figure 14. The model focuses on 8 key components for organizations to succeed: Sales & 

Customer Experience, Commercial Excellence, Supply Chain, People Development, 

Strategy, Innovation, Digitization, and Finance (Strategy Punk, 2023). Each component 

involves optimizing different aspects of the organization to maximize revenue and 

profitability, as well as to create value for customers and stakeholders.  

5.2.3. Vision, Mission & Objectives 

5.2.3.1. Vision 

➢ Develop world class recreational facilities appealing to international 

tourists.  

➢ Grow the customer base and retain the customers in domestic market, 

from South Africa and internationally. 

➢  Be price competitive.   

➢ Develop high customer service.   



 

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5.2.3.2. Mission  

➢ Develop strong relationship with our stakeholders (strategic partners, 

customers, and staff) 

➢ Employ and train qualified resources.  

➢ Improve the occupancy rate in our operations.  

➢ Develop value innovation model. 

 

Figure 14 Value creation strategic model (Strategy Punk, 2023) 

5.2.4. Organisational Objectives 

The venture strategic objectives are.  

➢ Capture value in accommodation and recreational facilities for the 

benefit of the consumer (tourist) 

➢ Understand the consumer’s needs and offer the product/s preferred by 

the consumer.  

➢ Package and deliver the value to customer in a long run for sustainable 

competitive advantage. 

➢ Lower cost of offering (remove costly factors), ease accessibility for the 

products,  



 

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5.3. Stakeholders Analysis  

5.3.1. Customer Analysis 

The target customers are a group of people aged between 25 and 50 as shown in Figure 

4 due to high demand of domestic tourists as well as Tourist from South Africa and abroad. 

The University Students are also a target group for the facilities. The segmentation of the 

target customers was analysed per the following: 

a) Demographics: factors include age, gender, income, education, and occupation of 

tourists visiting Lesotho. 

b) Travel Patterns: How often tourists travel, how they plan their trips, the duration of 

stay, mode of transportation, and their travel patterns.  

c) Motivations and interests: Why tourists choose to visit Lesotho and what activities 

of interests, such as cultural experiences, adventure activities. 

d) Booking behaviour: Understanding where tourists book, the channels they use, 

types of accommodations. 

e) Customer satisfaction: Studying satisfaction levels and experience in Lesotho, 

including the quality of tourism service, food, transport, experience. 

f) Cost, willingness to pay, budget, level of service, LSM range 8-10. 

5.4. Situational Analysis (Environmental, Industry & Competitor Analysis) 

5.4.1. Macro Environmental Analysis (Pestelg)



 

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Table 8 PESTELG: Macro Analysis for Tourism Industry in Lesotho 

➢ Issue ➢ Impact on Business 

Political  

➢ Political uncertainty to stabilise due to new government honey face 

➢ New CEO of LHDA, former Marketing Director Mr Tebello Thoolo 

➢ Policy uncertainty  

➢ Acquiring land for commercial use, leasing,   

➢ The new government still to proof and show what’s their agenda and where they put tourism development. 

➢ Prime Minister Mr Ntsokoane Matekane is a businessman and in his campaigns, he showed interest to 

develop infrastructure, the industry is expecting meaningful collaboration with government. 

➢ Policy uncertainty can lead to hesitancy of investors.  

➢ The new CEO knows the industry and LTDC tourism mandate  

Economic  

➢ Lesotho has achieved a 1.2million tourists prior to Covid in 2019,  

➢ Lesotho is landlocked country.  

➢ Rand is linked to the dollar, high inflation and high interests’ rates has put pressure 

on consumers, affecting travelling and occupancy of recreational facilities.  

➢ Fitch predicted Lesotho’s economic growth to contracts in 2023 from 2.2% to 1.5 

%.  

➢ Customs receipts from South Africa declined from 9.3% of GDP to 6.2 % of GDP 

➢ 2019, 50.5% Gini coefficient indicates high inequality in Lesotho. 

➢ Investment in the sector is crucial to gain market share in a growing economy.  

➢ Lesotho’s tourism sector 12.30 % contribution to GDP is significant and attractive. 

➢ Industrial Development Corporation has tourism development as part economic development.    

➢ Visit Lesotho & LDTC continue to market.  

➢ International tourists have stronger currencies than Rand/Loti and continue to Visit Lesotho 

➢ The diamond mines & Lesotho Highlands project continue to attract business tourists and there is less 

supply of tourism/accommodation facilities. 

➢ Improved trade agreements with trade partners (China) will continue to increase economic fiscus. 

➢ Lesotho to invest in its natural resources, improve tourism supply services to be self-sustainable. 

Social  

➢ Youth Unemployment rate remain a challenge at 26.6 %. 

➢ Social frustrations due to lack of opportunities to remain an issue until the new 

government has delivered on its promises “Moruo” wealth for the nation.  

➢ About 56 % of Basotho are said to still live below a poverty line. 

➢ Basotho recently finds travelling and recreation as the new norm 

➢ A strong culture of Basotho remains their key asset to attract the rest of the world 

➢ Visit Lesotho campaigns get most attention in winter, Afriski attractions, beautiful mountain sceneries, and 

a “blanket culture” are more relevant  

Technological  

➢ The new era of social media can be leveraged, the world is interconnected, and 

Basotho are not left behind,  

➢ Unstable telecommunication networks on some parts of the country. 

➢ Use of social media, Instagram, facebook, twitter and LinkedIn are common. 

➢ The poor network in remote areas makes the areas undesirable to visit. 

 

Environmental  

➢ Lesotho’s vulnerability to climate change remains a challenge, erratic rainfall to 

erosion, land erosion.  

➢ The terrain in Lesotho is mountainous, 

➢ The mining wastes pose environmental degradation of sub-surface water and 

underground water. 

➢ Lack of maintenance of National Parks, National Heritage Site led to 

unattractiveness of the sites. 

➢ Ecotourism is encouraged by LTDC and national environmental laws. 

➢ There are experts in Lesotho as well as South Africa to build infrastructure in line with regulatory bodies, 

locally and internationally, this can be managed by professional with minimal risks. 

➢ Funding to maintain tourists’ sites will attract more tourists and through ripple effects, the tourist market 

can grow, there is opportunity for public private partnerships  

Legal  

➢ The legal framework of Lesotho is identified as clear and suitable enough for 

business. 

➢ There is a no clear line of demarcation between what constitutes the ministerial 

and LTDC powers and responsibilities. (NTMP, 2019) 

➢ Ease of doing business in Lesotho is favourable: starting a business ranking 84 out of 190 economies, 

enforcing contracts 99 and paying taxes 110 as per World Bank report 84 for starting a business, while 

dealing with construction permits was most favourable at 165.  

➢ This can be an issue regarding the political interference on major projects 

Governance  

➢ Lesotho governance structure as set out in Company Act of 1967, amended in 

2011, includes board of directors for strategic decisions of the company and have 

➢ The structure promotes transparency, accountability & clear governance for the interests of the 

shareholders while following compliance to legal requirements  



 

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5.4.2. Industry Analysis Porters’ Five forces competitor model:

interest of shareholders, auditors to ensure compliance, annual AGMs to hold 

board accountable  

 

 

 

 

 
High capital investment, land required, 

professional fees 

High risk at start 

The support of movement for the industry will 

reduce entry barriers on small scale tourism 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

contractors

 

The engineering fees for concepts designs are 

costly,  

 

 



 

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5.4.3. Competitor Analysis 

Table 9 Competitor Analysis of sone of top 3 companies in Hotels & Accommodation Industry in Lesotho 

  Mpilo Botique Hotel  Avani Hotel (formerly owned by Sun International) Maliba Lodge 

 

Company profile 

 

 

Company 

highlights 

A 4-star luxury hotel situated at the centre of Maseru, 

close to amenities  

A 4-star chain of large Hotel Group across internationally 

(Formerly owned by Sun International), located in prime 

area including Royal Palace 

The only 5-star accommodation Ideal location 

for adventures tourist who want to be surrounded 

by Tsehlanyane National Park, onsite restaurant 

(farm to table), private balconies, hiking trails, 

horse riding  

Key competitive 

Advantage 

Prime location, close to amenities, location, location, 

location 

Well known in the industry, large customer base, high 

investment capital, machine, buildings & human 

resources  

5 Star service in nature, discrete location and 

recreational facilities  

Target Market  

 

 

Market 

information 

Business tourists, high up market domestic tourists  Business tourists, high end, conferencing  International tourists, upmarket tourists  

 

Market share 

Domestic market, international tourists as well as 

those from South Africa, Appro. $7.5mil (15%) 

As shown in Table 11 

Domestic market, international tourists as well as those 

from South Africa, 158 rooms Approx. $5 mil dollars (10%) 

As shown in Table 11 

International tourists and local tourists looking for 

exclusive luxurious accommodation experience, 

conferencing, wildlife. Market share appr. $6.5mil 

(13%), As shown in Table 11 

 

Marketing strategy 

The hotel positions itself as premium brand in hotel 

sector for corporates in Lesotho 

The Hotel positions itself for corporates and events, 

weddings  

 

Luxurious spacious & exclusive chalets located in 

a National Park with scenic views, staff goes 

above and beyond for tourists  

 

Products & services 

 

Product 

information 

Caters for business clients, offers conferencing & 

dining on top roof, no swimming pool, good views of 

the city, onsite spar, wifi and gym 

Multiple on-site restaurants, serving international cuisine, 

friendly staff who understand tourism service, onsite 

casino, panoramic views, spacious rooms 

Gourmet restaurant & bistro and bar surrounded 

by nature. Offers guests the adventure activities, 

horse riding, hiking trails & kids club to offer 

parents a getaway experience 

Pricing Moderate pricing, ~ R1 800 per person per night  High end and expensive ~ R1800 - R3000 per person per 

night 

High end and expensive ~ R4 500 per 

person/night  

 

Strengths 

 
 
 
 
 
 
SWOT 
Information 

Strong positioning in the market, appears on search, 

bookings of Trivago,  

Well established market access, knows its customers Location is in a key attraction of the Tsehlanyane 

National Park 

 

Weaknesses 

The architecture is not appealing from the photos,  The price range for a 4 -star service is over the top; tourists 

can select other hotels/accommodation for similar service  

Far from key amenities of the City, the National 

Park is not maintained, reduces attractiveness to 

returning tourists 

Opportunities Market needed new products, better service, it broad 

a new service to customers  

Tourism market in Lesotho grows year on year, well 

positioned and have first mover advantage  

Tourism market in Lesotho grows year on year, 

well positioned and have first mover advantage 



 

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Threats 

Offers personalised luxury service to keep the 

customer  

Has the human resources and technological 

capabilities to rebrand depending on market needs 

Lack of customers awareness and management of 

public relation issues can tarnish the brand name,  

 

Trends 

Lesotho Government support for private sector to 

develop tourism industry is attractive to private sector 

Sun International sold off non-profit making assets to 

maintain strong balance sheet, Lesotho chain of hotel is 

still profitable, but still competes for tourists in Lesotho)  

The company has a unique location and offering, 

it will benefit on attracting international tourists, 

provided good relationships with domestic market 

is maintained  

 



 

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5.4.4. SWOT analysis 

Table 10 shows SWOT analysis for the Lesotho tourism market  

Table 10 Lesotho Tourism Infrastructure & Facilities Market SWOT ANALYSIS 

STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES 

• Market demand of 1 million tourist 

on 2.2mil population, numbers have 

been growing steadily.   

• Tourism master plan developed by 

Lesotho Tourism Development 

Corporation (LDTC) shows 

government is willing to work with 

private sector to unlock 

opportunities.   

• Basotho have realized the national 

identity and need to improve Visit 

Lesotho brand via social media  

• There are many key attractions 

including the strong culture and 

history of Basotho, offering better 

facilities to embrace this can be a 

legacy  

• Various key attractions (beautiful 

mountain scenic views, Lesotho 

Highlands Water projects remain 

key attractions 

• Revenue in tourism is good.  

• There are already other players 

such Afriski who have established 

that international tourist finds 

Lesotho attractive with the right and 

unique product. 

• Covid -19 has positively affected 

the need for people to travel and 

stay outdoors.  

• Marketing and branding visit 

Lesotho via tourist attractions & 

attractive facilities is an opportunity 

for new entrants.  

• Limited offering of tourism services 

WEAKNESSES THREATS 

• Limited and lack of infrastructure 

• Lack of maintenance of existing 

tourism infrastructure assets such 

as National Parks, Dinosaurs 

footprints and Moshoeshoe Village 

in Thaba Bosiu  

• Tourism is not well understood, 

staff in tourism do not understand 

the needs of tourists who bring 

foreign currency. 

 

• The political instability in the 

country 

• Lesotho’s economy is linked to 

South Africa’s and recent continued 

hike in interest rates & inflation 

have continuously put pressure on 

households’ disposable income to 

spend on traveling/tourism 

activities.  

• The newly elected government is 

yet to be seen if they place tourism 

as much as the previous one 

 

 



 

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5.5. Market analysis 

5.5.1. Market & Strategic Analysis  

5.5.1.1. Target Market  

The target market is people with high living standard measure (LSM) range 8-10, domestic 

tourists and international tourists. About 1 563 448 tourists were reported to travel to South 

Africa from Lesotho in 2019, spending on average R8 500 in 6 days (65 % from to Free 

State, 24 % to Gauteng) (South African Tourism, 2023). These are Sesotho speaking 

countries, showing a tight link to family and culture. Improving tourism & recreational 

facilities in Lesotho, will also target Basotho in diaspora to get used to quality life in Lesotho 

and tourism services. The venture is targeting to bring new architecturally pleasing 

facilities with adventure, international tourism standard, value for money, ease access 

and one stop tourism in Lesotho.   

5.5.1.2. Market size and trends 

Assumptions  

➢ Lesotho tourism’s accommodation market in 2019 yielded R905 mil  (Lesotho Times 

, 2019)), the year with over 1 million tourists who visited Lesotho. 

➢ Dun & Bradstreet (2023), provides data on 11 Lesotho-based lodging and food 

service businesses, including revenues, location, rivals, and firmographic insights. 

The World Travel & tourist Council (WTTC) reports that Lesotho's tourist sector has 

been st