New directors for Namibia Tourism Board unveiled

THE Namibia Tourism Board’s (NTB) new board of directors, to be chaired by Dr Rukee Tjingaete – a deputy director in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism – was announced on Wednesday night.

Tjingaete replaced Simwanza Simenda, who served on the board for the past three years. Prominent businesswoman Benita Herma-Herrle, representing the private sector, retained her position as vice chairperson of the board, and the other members are Frank Heger of the Namibia Professional Hunting Association, Anastacia Mwanyangapo from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Chris Claassen from the Ministry of Finance.The board of directors, whose term of office is three years, was announced to the gathering of stakeholders in the tourism industry by the Minister of Environment and Tourism Phillemon Malima.Addressing the gathering on the agenda of the event which was to launch the new NTB levy and tourism regulations, Malima said the new regulations were all encompassing and that the aim for complying with the requirements was to improve quality standards.The regulations will see an enforcement that all businesses operating in the industry are registered with the NTB by November 1 and February 1 2005 for non-accommodation establishments.The penalty for failure to register by the set dates could lead to prosecution and if convicted, the offender could be sentenced to two years in jail or fined up to N$20 000 or both.The new regulations were issued by the parent ministry in July.The minister added that the new regulations also allowed room for innovation and creativity.”These standards were developed to take cognizance of the international and regional trends to make Namibia’s tourism products competitive in the world market.”This approach is essential to ensure credibility of the quality assurance system, which itself is a fundamental principle in positioning Namibia as a quality tourism destination,” said Malima.The NTB believes with the new regulations in place, this would do away with bogus operators that might damage the country’s image.Also speaking at the occasion NTB chief executive officer Gideon Shilongo said tourism was about job creation saying the current tourism trend revealed that over 4 000 jobs were being created annually in the sector.He also said that people benefiting directly and indirectly from tourism were over 400 000, which is at least 23 per cent of the country’s population.The new tourism and levy regulations were launched in a bid to establish a benchmark of quality and ensuring high standards are maintained by all players in the industry.Businesses that have to register are backpacker accommodations, camping and caravan parks, guest farms, guest houses, rest camps and self-catering accommodation, bed and breakfast establishments, camp sites, hotel pensions, lodges, permanent tented camps, tented lodges and resorts.NTB said the necessity to regulate the industry had the support of professional businesses and associates active in tourism, who want to ensure that visitors coming to Namibia are offered high quality services on a consistent basis.Prominent businesswoman Benita Herma-Herrle, representing the private sector, retained her position as vice chairperson of the board, and the other members are Frank Heger of the Namibia Professional Hunting Association, Anastacia Mwanyangapo from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Chris Claassen from the Ministry of Finance.The board of directors, whose term of office is three years, was announced to the gathering of stakeholders in the tourism industry by the Minister of Environment and Tourism Phillemon Malima.Addressing the gathering on the agenda of the event which was to launch the new NTB levy and tourism regulations, Malima said the new regulations were all encompassing and that the aim for complying with the requirements was to improve quality standards.The regulations will see an enforcement that all businesses operating in the industry are registered with the NTB by November 1 and February 1 2005 for non-accommodation establishments.The penalty for failure to register by the set dates could lead to prosecution and if convicted, the offender could be sentenced to two years in jail or fined up to N$20 000 or both.The new regulations were issued by the parent ministry in July.The minister added that the new regulations also allowed room for innovation and creativity.”These standards were developed to take cognizance of the international and regional trends to make Namibia’s tourism products competitive in the world market.”This approach is essential to ensure credibility of the quality assurance system, which itself is a fundamental principle in positioning Namibia as a quality tourism destination,” said Malima.The NTB believes with the new regulations in place, this would do away with bogus operators that might damage the country’s image.Also speaking at the occasion NTB chief executive officer Gideon Shilongo said tourism was about job creation saying the current tourism trend revealed that over 4 000 jobs were being created annually in the sector.He also said that people benefiting directly and indirectly from tourism were over 400 000, which is at least 23 per cent of the country’s population.The new tourism and levy regulations were launched in a bid to establish a benchmark of quality and ensuring high standards are maintained by all players in the industry.Businesses that have to register are backpacker accommodations, camping and caravan parks, guest farms, guest houses, rest camps and self-catering accommodation, bed and breakfast establishments, camp sites, hotel pensions, lodges, permanent tented camps, tented lodges and resorts.NTB said the necessity to regulate the industry had the support of professional businesses and associates active in tourism, who want to ensure that visitors coming to Namibia are offered high quality services on a consistent basis.