myTourismBW
Botswana’s Premier Tourism Lifestyle Portal
Effective Date: [18 July, 2025]
Last Updated: [18 July, 2025]
1. Introduction
Welcome to myTourismBW, Botswana’s premier tourism lifestyle portal. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website and use our services.
myTourismBW serves as a comprehensive digital gateway connecting visitors and locals to the rich tapestry of experiences that define Botswana. As a dynamic online ecosystem showcasing attractions, amenities, and adventures, we understand the importance of maintaining your trust through transparent privacy practices.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Personal Information You Provide
We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when creating an account, making bookings, or interacting with our services. This includes your name, email address, phone number, and password when establishing an account with us. We also collect profile information such as profile pictures, travel preferences, interests, and biographical information that you choose to share.
When you make bookings or reservations through our platform, we collect relevant data including travel dates, accommodation preferences, tour selections, and payment information necessary to process your transactions. We gather communication information through our contact forms, customer support inquiries, and newsletter subscriptions. Additionally, we collect user-generated content such as reviews, ratings, photos, videos, and comments you submit to our platform, as well as responses to surveys, polls, and feedback forms.
2.2 Information Automatically Collected
When you visit myTourismBW, we automatically collect certain technical information about your device and usage patterns. This includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers, and mobile network information. We track usage data such as pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked, search queries, and interaction patterns to better understand how our platform is used.
We may collect general geographic location information based on your IP address and precise location information if you grant permission through your device settings. We also gather information through cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience and analyze website performance.
2.3 Information from Third Parties
We may receive information from various third-party sources to enhance our services. This includes profile information when you connect your social media accounts to our platform. We receive booking confirmations, tour details, and accommodation information from our partner businesses in the tourism industry. Payment processors provide us with transaction confirmations and payment status updates, while analytics providers supply website performance and user behavior data.
3. How We Use Your Information
3.1 Service Provision
We use your personal information primarily to facilitate bookings and reservations for accommodations, tours, and activities across Botswana. This information enables us to provide personalized recommendations based on your preferences and travel history, creating a more tailored experience for each user. We facilitate communication between users and tourism service providers, process payments and manage transactions securely, and maintain and improve our website functionality.
3.2 Communication and Marketing
We utilize your contact information to send booking confirmations, travel updates, and service-related notifications that are essential to your use of our platform. With your consent, we deliver newsletters, promotional content, and special offers about tourism opportunities in Botswana. We respond to customer inquiries and provide support through various channels, and we conduct surveys and gather feedback to continuously improve our services.
3.3 Business Operations
Your information helps us analyze website usage patterns to enhance user experience and optimize our platform performance. We use this data to detect and prevent fraudulent activities and security threats, ensuring a safe environment for all users. We comply with legal obligations and regulatory requirements, maintain business records, and facilitate business transactions with our tourism partners.
3.4 Community Features
We enable user reviews and ratings of tourism services, creating a trusted community resource for travelers. Your information facilitates social interactions and content sharing within our platform, allowing us to curate and showcase user-generated content that highlights the best of Botswana’s tourism offerings. This helps us build and maintain our tourism community platform.
4. Information Sharing and Disclosure
4.1 Tourism Service Providers
We share relevant booking information with hotels, tour operators, restaurants, and other tourism businesses to facilitate your reservations and ensure proper service delivery. This sharing is limited to information necessary for the specific services you have requested.
4.2 Business Partners
We may share aggregated or anonymized data with tourism boards, marketing partners, and research organizations to promote Botswana’s tourism industry. This information does not identify individual users and helps support the broader tourism ecosystem.
4.3 Service Providers
We work with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in various aspects of our operations. These include payment processing and financial transaction services, email marketing and communication platforms, website hosting and technical infrastructure providers, analytics and performance monitoring services, and customer support and help desk services. All service providers are bound by confidentiality agreements and are only permitted to use your information as necessary to provide their services to us.
4.4 Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information when required by law, including compliance with court orders, subpoenas, or legal processes. We may also share information to protect our rights, property, and safety, investigate suspected fraudulent or illegal activities, and cooperate with law enforcement agencies when legally required.
4.5 Business Transfers
In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the new entity, subject to the same privacy protections outlined in this policy.
5. Data Security
We implement comprehensive security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Our technical safeguards include SSL encryption for all data transmissions, secure servers with regular security updates, multi-factor authentication for administrative access, and regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
Our operational safeguards ensure limited access to personal information on a need-to-know basis, with employee training on privacy and security best practices. All staff and contractors sign confidentiality agreements, and we maintain incident response procedures for potential data breaches. Physical safeguards include secure facilities with restricted access, proper disposal of physical documents containing personal information, and environmental controls to protect electronic systems.
6. Your Rights and Choices
6.1 Access and Correction
You have the right to request access to your personal information stored in our systems and to update or correct any inaccurate information. You may also download a copy of your data in a portable format for your records or to transfer to another service provider.
6.2 Deletion and Restriction
You may request deletion of your personal information, though certain information may be retained for legal compliance purposes. You can restrict processing of your data under certain circumstances and object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
6.3 Communication Preferences
You have full control over your communication preferences and can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time. You can modify notification settings through your account dashboard and opt out of certain data collection practices while still maintaining access to our core services.
6.4 Account Management
You may deactivate or delete your account at any time, modify privacy settings and preferences, and control the visibility of your profile and content to other users on the platform.
7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
7.1 Types of Cookies
We use various types of cookies to enhance your experience on our platform. Essential cookies are necessary for basic website functionality and cannot be disabled. Performance cookies help us understand how our website is used and identify areas for improvement. Functionality cookies remember your preferences and settings to provide a more personalized experience. Targeting cookies deliver personalized content and advertisements based on your interests and browsing behavior.
7.2 Cookie Management
You can control cookies through your browser settings, though please note that disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality. Most browsers allow you to view, manage, and delete cookies, and you can set your browser to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent.
7.3 Third-Party Tracking
We use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other third-party tools to understand user behavior and improve our services. These tools are subject to their respective privacy policies, and you can opt out of tracking through various industry opt-out mechanisms.
8. International Data Transfers
As a Botswana-based company serving international visitors, we may transfer your information to countries with different privacy laws. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place through standard contractual clauses, adequacy decisions by relevant authorities, and certified transfer mechanisms to protect your information regardless of where it is processed.
9. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services and maintain your account, comply with legal and regulatory requirements, resolve disputes and enforce agreements, and fulfill legitimate business purposes. Account information is retained until account deletion plus seven years for legal compliance. Transaction records are kept for seven years from the transaction date. Marketing communications are retained until you unsubscribe, and website analytics data is stored for 26 months.
10. Children’s Privacy
myTourismBW is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will promptly delete it and take steps to prevent future collection.
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of material changes through email notifications to registered users, prominent notices on our website, and in-app notifications for mobile users. Continued use of our services after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
12. Contact Information
For questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Team at privacy@mytourismbw.com, by phone at [+267 74514948], or by mail at [P O Box 45223, Riverwalk Mall, Gaborone], Botswana. You may also contact our Data Protection Officer directly at dpo@mytourismbw.com.
13. Governing Law
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of Botswana. Any disputes arising from this policy will be resolved in the courts of Botswana.
Acknowledgment: By using myTourismBW, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to this Privacy Policy.