Positive developments in tourism sector

In an analysis of the sector, Simonis Storm Securities says the hotels and restaurant sub-sector posted a growth of 10,4% in 2021, compared to a contraction of 30,4% in 2020. A national occupancy rate of 28,6% was recorded last month compared to 20,1% in March 2021 and 25,4% in March 2020, according to the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN). This is the highest national occupancy rate since last December, but far below pre-pandemic levels. “A slow recovery in tourism resulted from Namibia's low vaccination rates, global travel restrictions and new variant infection outbreaks, among others,” said Simonis, adding that the Bank of Namibia forecasts 4,8% growth for this sector this year. Namibia has the third most powerful passport in Africa, allowing citizens to travel to 78 countries without a visa last year, according to Business Insider Africa.In addition to flight schedules by FlyNamibia, Airlink, Eurowings and Qatar Airways, more developments favourable to Namibia occurred in recent weeks, the analysts said.“Ethiopian Airlines has increased its weekly flights to Windhoek from four to five and TAAG increased its weekly Windhoek trips from two to three from the end of March.“Airlink currently operates about 45 flights between Namibia and South Africa per week. In the absence of Air Namibia, we remain positive on seeing an increased inflow of foreign arrivals due to airlines increasing operations in Namibia,” said Simonis. The proportion of Namibian visitors to local establishments continued to decline with locals constituting 43,7% of visitors last month. Most visitors came from Germany, Switzerland and Austria (27,9%), South Africa (12,0%), France (3,6%) and Benelux (2,04%) last month.Hotels with fewer than and those with more than 30 rooms recorded the highest occupancy rates last month at 45,3% and 39,1% respectively, followed by bed and breakfast establishments (39,0%), tented camps (28,6%), lodges (23,6%), guest farms (23,4%), guesthouses (19,1%), and rest camps (15,4%).Of those travelling to Namibia, 88,0% came for leisure, 6,6% for business and 5,4% for conferences. “Hospitality establishments in the coastal area recorded the highest occupancy rate of 41,3%, followed by the central area with 39,4%, southern area (27,9%) and northern area (18,2%) in March 2022. “The Easter weekend likely boosted occupancy levels in the coastal area during the month under review,” Simonis noted. Namibia's tourism high season, starting in July, is fast approaching and numerous establishments allude to bookings being full in the upcoming months. Demand from the self-drive market has also increased considerably in recent weeks, however, local available cars are in short supply. Local rental companies had a fleet of about 8 500 vehicles prior to the pandemic outbreak and currently have about 2 000. Rental companies are struggling to source new vehicles to rebuild their fleets in response to rising demand, said the analysis. “We expect prices at local hospitality establishments to increase in coming months, owing to rising cost pressures. Higher food, fuel and utility costs will weigh on profit margins and could potentially lead to higher room rates,” said Simonis, adding that increased marketing of the country is needed to persuade tourists to visit Namibia. Email: matthew@namibian.com.na