Local hotels 58% occupied in April

… Europeans dominate bookings

Most hotels and accomodation facilities in Namibia achieved a 58% occupancy rate in April.

This is a 7% increase from last year and 4% higher than the average occupancy for April 2019.

Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) chief executive Gitta Paetzold says hotel occupancy is a standard measure to monitor the perfomance of the tourism industry.

“What is exciting to note is that business travel seems to be returning slowly but surely, with over 13% of the accommodation registered in April noted as business travel, especially in the hotel segment,” she says.

She says European markets still dominate the Namibian tourism sector, specifically German-speaking countries.

Last year, business and conference travel constituted just over 8%, while in 2019, business travel made up 13,5% of the accommodation numbers, and conferencing some 3,6%, according to HAN.

Paetzold says with Namibia preparing to host major events in the coming weeks and months, the upward boost is expected to continue, and in particular the conference business, picking up strongly.

Namibia will welcome African youth and women in tourism for a summit slated to take place from 28 to 31 May in Windhoek.

The 2024 Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit will welcome over 500 young people and women from across the African continent.

Hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, the summit will be jointly convened by United Nations Tourism, Africa Tourism Partners, BDO Namibia and Millvest.

The summit has also been endorsed by the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement and the Namibia Tourism Board, among others.

The organisers believe a number of delegates would want to extend their stay and see more of what Windhoek and Namibia have to offer, and a selection of exciting tours have been laid out to choose from, they say.

However, Paetzold says the reflection of the pure camping segment of the Namibian tourism industry is still understated.

“The visible presence of self-drive travellers on Namibian roads, and at towns, restaurants and other tourism attractions points to a much higher prevalence of camping in the country, information that could possibly be held by especially the car rental companies offering fully equipped vehicles,” she says.

According to HAN, the impact of tourism and the extent to which Namibia’s infrastructure and the environment can sustain tourism development will come under scrutiny during the Travel Namibia Festival event.

“Sustainable development is the key to success for Namibia’s tourism industry, and we as stakeholders and operators in tourism are committed to ensuring that focus remains on sustainability,” Paetzold says.

– email: matthew@namibian.com.na