Botswana is one of Africa’s success stories; a country of diverse natural habitats, generous resources, and a fast-growing tourist sector, attracted by its proximity to South Africa and also by its superb game reserves and national parks. Botswana casinos are a growing sector of the economy, and casinos have sprung up in several cities in the country, including the capital, Gaborone, and the northern capital, Francistown. Consequently, the Botswana government has taken great steps to ensure that the development of Botswana casinos continues in line with the growing numbers of foreign visitors.
Francistown is the largest city in northern Botswana and also home to two casinos, the Marang Hotel, and the Admiral at the Thapama Hotel. The city was the site of southern Africa’s first “gold rush” in the mid 19th century, which brought people in from all over the globe in search of their fortune. Unfortunately for them, the gold proved difficult and costly to mine, and most of the mining operations fell into disuse, though a few remain. Nowadays, the casinos of Francistown provide visitors with the chance to strike it lucky; there is still gold here, if only you are fortunate enough to find it!
Apart from Francistown, the other main center for Botswana casinos is the capital, Gaborone. This is home to Botswana’s largest casinos, the Grand Palm Hotel Casino Resort, which has 17 table games and over 250 slots and video gaming machines, the Gaborone Sun Casino, which is the oldest and biggest casino in Botswana, as well as a new development at the Gaborone Hotel. As a result, the capital is making a bid to attract some of the gambling business away from its northern rival, and make itself a valuable stopover for foreign visitors on the way to the national parks of Chobe and Okavango in the north of Botswana, which are the country’s prime tourist attractions at present.
Africans love gambling, and Botswana casinos are set up to appeal to locals as well as visitors from abroad. Recognizing this, the government has been careful not to overburden the Botswana casino industry with regulations and red tape, although the industry is obviously carefully scrutinized to ensure that it maintains the highest standards of probity. Accordingly, the Botswana casino sector continues to expand to meet the demand of visitors from far and wide, eager to find their fortune, like the prospectors of old.