Lesotho recorded a total of one million tourists in 2019, ranking 91st in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Lesotho, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.50 tourists per resident, Lesotho ranked 66th in the world. In Southern Africa, it ranked 2nd.
In 2018, Lesotho generated around 24.00 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.96 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 0 percent of all international tourism receipts in Southern Africa.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2018 spent about 19 US dollars.
Development of the tourism sector in Lesotho from 1995 to 2019
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Lesotho each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 29.00 million USD, or about 2.9 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 209,000 tourists at that time and roughly 139 USD per person. Within 23 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased substantially. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $24.00 million billion, 0.94 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $20 on their vacation in Lesotho.
Full figures for 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, are not currently available. However, national and international travel has been restricted worldwide, and some countries have even been closed off from the outside world altogether. Dramatic revenue losses are expected, with some countries experiencing losses of up to more than 80%.
All data for Lesotho in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2019
1.14 m
2018
1.17 m
24.00 m $
0.94 %
20 $
2017
1.14 m
23.00 m $
1.00 %
20 $
2016
1.20 m
48.00 m $
2.3 %
40 $
2015
1.08 m
34.00 m $
1.4 %
31 $
2014
1.08 m
16.00 m $
0.66 %
15 $
2013
433,000
17.00 m $
0.72 %
39 $
2012
423,000
22.00 m $
0.89 %
52 $
2011
398,000
24.00 m $
0.93 %
60 $
2010
426,000
23.00 m $
1.0 %
54 $
2009
344,000
30.00 m $
1.7 %
87 $
2008
293,000
30.00 m $
1.7 %
102 $
2007
300,000
31.00 m $
1.8 %
103 $
2006
357,000
29.00 m $
1.6 %
81 $
2005
304,000
27.00 m $
1.6 %
89 $
2004
304,000
26.00 m $
1.7 %
86 $
2003
329,000
21.00 m $
1.8 %
64 $
2002
287,000
14.00 m $
1.8 %
49 $
2001
295,000
16.00 m $
1.9 %
54 $
2000
302,000
18.00 m $
2.0 %
60 $
1999
308,000
23.10 m $
2.5 %
75 $
1998
290,000
24.70 m $
2.7 %
85 $
1997
313,000
33.72 m $
3.4 %
108 $
1996
312,000
33.70 m $
3.6 %
108 $
1995
209,000
29.00 m $
2.9 %
139 $
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
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