Looking local to boost tourism

WINDHOEK – The Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) is increasingly looking at local tourism potential to boost the tourism sector as part of its new aggressive marketing drives.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NTB, Digu //Naobeb told the media here Wednesday evening that the tourism promoting entity is putting new focus on the domestic market to enhance tourism revenues.//Naobeb said the tourism sector largely depended on local people and displaced South Africans for revenues during the 2010 World Cup football tournament during June/July this year in neighbouring South Africa, a period which saw a large drop in arrivals by international tourists.He lauded local tourism partners such as the Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) and the Gondwana Canon Park group for offering special packages to Namibians.The arrival statistics from the country’s traditional European markets, such as Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy for 2009 was 206 494, a mere one per cent change from the previous year.Meanwhile, arrivals from the rest of Africa increased by seven per cent to 723 760, while it dropped by one per cent to 49 919 from the rest of the world, including nationals from countries such as the United States of America (USA), Brazil and China.//Naobeb said NTB now aims to focus on regional markets, such as South Africa and Angola, while developing new regional markets with Botswana being a primary target.The NTB CEO seemed convinced that the Chinese tourism market has not been exploited as vigorously as it should be. – Nampa