There is an expected boost in business and conference travel to Namibia, owing to foreign investors being part of local green hydrogen pilot projects and Hyphen Hydrogen Energy’s project in the south of Namibia, as well as ongoing exploration for gas, oil, copper, gold and rare earth metals.
This is expected to boost local tourism and improve hotel occupancy in the country, which last month saw an occupancy rate of 50,8%.
Analysts from Simonis Storm Securities say despite this lower rate for May when compared to 51,8% in April, occupancy rates have improved by 11,4 percentage points from 39,4% in May 2022 on an annual basis, which is still indicative of a recovery in the sector.
Namibia’s coastal area recorded the lowest occupancy rate in May, at 44,2%, down from the last highest month at 58,1%.
The central part of the country area had the highest occupancy rate, with 54,9%, followed by the north at 52,1% and the south at 48,5%.
Although leisure tourism continues to be the driver of tourism in the country at over 85%, the number of business visitors to the country has also improved, almost nearing 10%.
A rather small cut of 0,9% involve visitors attending conferences in the country.
Data from the Hospitality Association of Namibia show that Europeans accounted for 55% of all visitors across hospitality establishments countrywide.
The majority of visitors during May this year came from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (30,9%), followed by locals (22,8%), South Africans (8,3%) and the French (8,4%)
Tourists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are exceeding pre-pandemic occupancy rates, and tourists from the rest of the world are close to reaching pre-pandemic levels.
Tourist inflows into Namibia have shown signs of improvement, reaching 68% of pre-pandemic passenger arrival levels.
– email: lazarus@namibian.com.na
Twitter: @Lasarus_A
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