Business Reporter
“The tourism sector remains a light in a dark tunnel for the Namibia economy.
“Recent data points indicate that the recovery from the lockdown induced slump is getting stronger and might not necessarily lose momentum during the upcoming winter season, owing to low risks from border closures.”
These are the sentiments of Theo Klein, economic analyst at Simonis Storm, who shared the Hospitality Association of Namibia’s (HAN) tourism statistics and commented on the status of this crucial industry.
He said rental companies continue to struggle in restocking their vehicle fleet to meet the rising demand for self-drive services by foreign nationals. However, positive signs of an increase in bookings should bode well for local hospitality establishments.
Klein noted that a national occupancy rate of 36.5% was recorded during April 2022, compared to 28.6% in the prior month and 27.7% in April 2021 according to HAN.
“This is the highest national occupancy rate since the pandemic outbreak. Year to date, the national occupancy rate averages 26.5%, compared to 21.9% for the same period in 2021, showing an improvement in bookings made with nationwide hospitality establishments,” Klein noted.
He said the proportion of Namibian visitors at local establishments remains on a declining trend, where 37.7% of visitors were Namibians during April 2022, compared to 43.7% during the prior month.
“We view this as a positive trend as foreign nationals typically spend more money than locals at establishments,” Klein said, adding that most visitors in April 2022 came from Germany, Switzerland and Austria (30.3%), South Africa (8.5%), France (5.7%), Benelux (5.28%) and the UK and Ireland (2.2%) during April 2022.
A total of 47% of all guests came from greater Europe (Baltics, Scandinavia and the UK) which is close to pre-pandemic levels of about 50%.
“This indicates that Namibia’s main markets are returning to normal levels,” Klein said.
