JLL’s Tourism Readiness Index, Commissioned by Africa’s Eden, Charts Investment Roadmap For Southern Africa

Proven benchmarking tool, applied in over 200 destinations, identifies four countries as “Dawning Developers” poised for sustainable growth.

Africa’s Eden Tourism Association (Africa’s Eden), in partnership with JLL and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), unveiled a strategic roadmap to accelerate sustainable tourism growth across four countries in Southern Africa. The findings are based on JLL’s globally recognised Tourism Readiness Index, a proven framework previously applied to over 200 destinations worldwide. This latest analysis provides a data-driven assessment of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, outlining a clear path for investment, policy action, and tourism product diversification.

The Index uses more than 70 indicators across eight pillars — Scale, Concentration, Leisure, Business, Urban Readiness, Safety & Security, Environmental Readiness and Policy & Prioritisation. The research underpinning the Africa’s Eden report was conducted between October 2024 and June 2025.

“This Index is a living document — a tool for our members, our partners, and all stakeholders in tourism,” says Jillian Blackbeard, CEO of Africa’s Eden.

“The Tourism Readiness Index offers a standardised global approach to destination assessment,” says Bernadine Galliver, JLL’s Head of Tourism Advisory for MEA.

The Index at a Glance

• The four countries are categorised as “Dawning Developers” — destinations with strong natural and cultural assets, emerging infrastructure and major upside if strategic investment and policy reforms are pursued.
• Zimbabwe leads on scale and leisure metrics, achieving the highest international arrivals among the four, and has further opportunities for growth in business readiness and governance.
• Zambia is the region’s business-travel leader, with business travel accounting for approximately 63% of tourism spending. The country also scores strongly on urban readiness, presenting immediate opportunities for MICE and bleisure tourism.
• Botswana stands out for its environmental stewardship and strong policy frameworks, with opportunities to further enhance the scale and geographic dispersal of visitors beyond its iconic safari nodes.
• Namibia scores highest on safety and offers a strong value proposition. There are opportunities for targeted investment to further enhance urban and environmental readiness.

From Status Quo to Roadmap:

“Designed to facilitate critical conversations between stakeholders, the Index provides a roadmap for unlocking sustainable tourism growth,” adds Gloria Guevara, WTTC Interim CEO.

The Index is not a ranking system: it identifies the “delta” between what destinations offer today and what they will need to service future visitors sustainably. That means actionable guidance on where to invest — from air connectivity and road links to visa openness, MICE infrastructure, and product diversification (culture, events, coastal and city experiences) – so growth is inclusive, climate-sensitive and resilient.

Strategic insights for Investment and Policy

• Air connectivity & scale: Zimbabwe and Zambia show stronger seat capacity and route networks; Botswana and Namibia need targeted route development to unlock new markets and reduce over-reliance on a few nodes.
• Product diversification: All four countries rely heavily on leisure/wildlife. The Index highlights immediate opportunities to grow culture, adventure, city breaks and MICE to smooth seasonality and extend average length of stay.
• Sustainability & resilience: Botswana leads on environmental readiness but each country needs a clear tourism resilience strategy — from protected-area finance to encouraging more hotels to adopt sustainability standards.
• Visa & policy levers: Updating visa regimes and creating coordinated regional travel corridors (SADC cooperation) would materially improve multi-country itineraries and boost arrivals.

From Insights to Action

The full report is being made available to government agencies, tourism associations, investors and civil-society partners today, accompanied by regional webinars to turn insights into action.