The Tourism Industry and Economic Growth Nexus in Lesotho

Tourism-led economic growth hypothesis has been a widely studied topic yet Africa has been slow to generate information in this area. Almost all economies globally utilise tourism to accelerate economic growth because the industry is linked with foreign exchange income, employment opportunities, and increased foreign investment. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring and demonstrating the economic impact of the tourism industry on Lesotho’s economy by specifically focusing on tourism as a source of income, employment, investment, and export. Secondary research approach was utilised by conducting a comprehensive literature review to generate information for this research. The findings of this study revealed that tourism activities positively influenced Lesotho’s economy from 2014 to 2019. The results support the tourism-led economic growth hypothesis by noting a positive contribution to Lesotho’s economy in terms of the gross domestic product, employment and investment. Furthermore, Lesotho’s tourism development impediments were noted to include infrastructure inadequacy, low levels of tourism collaborations and investment, and improper marketing and management of tourism organisations. Keywords: secondary data, tourism industry, economic development, tourism development drawbacks, Lesotho