NWR not above law

THERE is widespread concern among private tour operators that the new tourism regulations might not be applicable to Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR).

With its monopoly in the national parks and at some of the country’s most popular tourism spots, NWR has regularly come under attack from private operators for its poor standards of maintenance. The aim of the new national regulations as contained in the Namibia Tourism Board Act of 2000 is to enhance the level of quality and standards of the tourism product.In terms of the regulations all players in the tourism industry have to be registered by February next year.Failing to do so would mean an illegal operation punishable with heavy fines and/or prison sentences.Private operators say they had to spend huge amounts of money to adhere to the new regulations.”Now that the private sector is trying to abide by the new rules and regulations we bring up the point of Namibia Wildlife Resorts,” a tour operator wrote to The Namibian.He said when NWR took over the resorts in the game parks that were previously run by Nature Conservation, an improvement in facilities and accommodation was expected.”What we received was an increase in rates every year.The facilities are atrocious in most of the resorts,” he said.Jackie Asheeke, CEO of the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations (Fenata), said similar questions had been posed to the association by members.She said the issue was raised at Fenata’s board meeting with input from the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), the administrator of the new regulations.The main message sent to Fenata members was that the regulations were applicable to all players in the industry.”We were given the assurance by NTB that NWR was not above the law,” said Almuth Styles of the Namib i tourism information office at Swakopmund.Digu Naobeb, Quality Assurance and Standards Manager at the NTB, confirmed that NWR would be subjected to the regulations as everybody else in the industry.He said all the rest camps had been registered and that reports had already been sent to NWR to point out problem areas that needed attention.Naobeb said inspectors would be visiting establishments once a year to ensure adherence to the regulations.”If we receive specific complaints about a place, the inspectors would be send there to submit a report to our board.”The NTB has the authority to close a place or withdraw its registration, which would make it an illegal operation.Sebulon Chicalu, Marketing Co-ordinator of NWR, said maintenance problems at their resorts were being addressed.A group maintenance manager was appointed earlier this year and a maintenance team established at each resort that reports to the manager.In addition a movable maintenance truck, sponsored by the European Union, will come into operation soon.The truck will move from resort to resort to sort out problems.Styles said the majority of complaints her office received about NWR concerned maintenance issues and not hygiene.Gitta Paetzold of the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) agreed that it was mostly petty problems, which also occurred at many private facilities.Fenata’s Asheeke said as NWR received the bulk of tourists at their resorts, there would be more complaints.She said different surveys indicated that the first priority of any traveller was value for money.”If they paid a high price at a lodge and found a broken toilet seat or an unfriendly receptionist, they would obviously say it was not worth it.”She said Namibia had excellent statistics for repeat entries and tourists who would like to come back to the country.In 2002, 47 per cent of all tourists had come back from a second or third time, while 99 per cent of visitors had indicated they would like to return to the country.”If it was all that horrible, people would not want to come back,” she said.The tour operator maintained that standards, especially at prime resorts, had a negative effect on the country’s tourism image.He specifically mentioned the Sesriem camp, which is often overbooked, resulting in a “disgusting mess” in the ablution facilities.Etosha, as one of the main attractions, is another concern where he said all three camps were in bad shape.”Okaukuejo has the worst campsite in Namibia.It was referred to in one of the most popular guide books as the ‘dust bowl’.NWR has a monopoly in Namibia, and is supported by Government.They should be forced to offer a quality product,” he said.The aim of the new national regulations as contained in the Namibia Tourism Board Act of 2000 is to enhance the level of quality and standards of the tourism product.In terms of the regulations all players in the tourism industry have to be registered by February next year.Failing to do so would mean an illegal operation punishable with heavy fines and/or prison sentences.Private operators say they had to spend huge amounts of money to adhere to the new regulations.”Now that the private sector is trying to abide by the new rules and regulations we bring up the point of Namibia Wildlife Resorts,” a tour operator wrote to The Namibian.He said when NWR took over the resorts in the game parks that were previously run by Nature Conservation, an improvement in facilities and accommodation was expected.”What we received was an increase in rates every year.The facilities are atrocious in most of the resorts,” he said.Jackie Asheeke, CEO of the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations (Fenata), said similar questions had been posed to the association by members.She said the issue was raised at Fenata’s board meeting with input from the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), the administrator of the new regulations.The main message sent to Fenata members was that the regulations were applicable to all players in the industry.”We were given the assurance by NTB that NWR was not above the law,” said Almuth Styles of the Namib i tourism information office at Swakopmund.Digu Naobeb, Quality Assurance and Standards Manager at the NTB, confirmed that NWR would be subjected to the regulations as everybody else in the industry.He said all the rest camps had been registered and that reports had already been sent to NWR to point out problem areas that needed attention.Naobeb said inspectors would be visiting establishments once a year to ensure adherence to the regulations.”If we receive specific complaints about a place, the inspectors would be send there to submit a report to our board.”The NTB has the authority to close a place or withdraw its registration, which would make it an illegal operation.Sebulon Chicalu, Marketing Co-ordinator of NWR, said maintenance problems at their resorts were being addressed.A group maintenance manager was appointed earlier this year and a maintenance team established at each resort that reports to the manager.In addition a movable maintenance truck, sponsored by the European Union, will come into operation soon.The truck will move from resort to resort to sort out problems.Styles said the majority of complaints her office received about NWR concerned maintenance issues and not hygiene.Gitta Paetzold of the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) agreed that it was mostly petty problems, which also occurred at many private facilities.Fenata’s Asheeke said as NWR received the bulk of tourists at their resorts, there would be more complaints.She said different surveys indicated that the first priority of any traveller was value for money.”If they paid a high price at a lodge and found a broken toilet seat or an unfriendly receptionist, they would obviously say it was not worth it.”She said Namibia had excellent statistics for repeat entries and tourists who would like to come back to the country.In 2002, 47 per cent of all tourists had come back from a second or third time, while 99 per cent of visitors had indicated they would like to return to the country.”If it was all that horrible, people would not want to come back,” she said.The tour operator maintained that standards, especially at prime resorts, had a negative effect on the country’s tourism image.He specifically mentioned the Sesriem camp, which is often overbooked, resulting in a “disgusting mess” in the ablution facilities.Etosha, as one of the main attractions, is another concern where he said all three camps were in bad shape.”Okaukuejo has the worst campsite in Namibia.It was referred to in one of the most popular guide books as the ‘dust bowl’.NWR has a monopoly in Namibia, and is supported by Government.They should be forced to offer a quality product,” he said.