Abstract

Tourism is globally rated among the fastest-growing industries contributing considerably to the global Gross Domestic Product, job creation, investment, and export revenue. Meeting the demands of the tourism clientele is an essential component to yield these desired economic benefits. However, African countries such as Lesotho are missing out on the tourism economic benefits as evidenced by the rankings provided by the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index reports since 2007. This research therefore examines the perspectives of tourists towards the services offered by the private service providers in Lesotho with the aim of identifying weaknesses prohibiting Lesotho to be a competitive tourist destination. Qualitative research approach was adopted to guide this study where in-depth interviews were conducted with both international and domestic tourists. A constant comparative method of data analysis was utilised to analyse the collected primary data. The findings of the study indicated that tourists are dissatisfied with car/taxi hire, accommodation, restaurants, retail shops, and bus transport service quality. The study provided some strategies to improve service offered by the sectors under investigation.