As with almost all other countries, tourism in Namibia has
been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector suffered a decline in
international tourist arrivals of around 90% in 2020.
Speaking during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos,
Switzerland, last week, tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta said the final total
international arrivals for the year 2022 are expected to increase to above the
500 000 international travellers mark - up from 354 508 arrivals recorded in
2021, although this remains well down on the over 1.5 million arrivals in 2019.
Shifeta, however, highlighted travel and tourism as a key
economic sector in Namibia.
Up to 2020, he said, the tourism sector has shown continued
growth, and it is a priority sector for development in our Fifth National
Development Plan (NDP5) and the Harambee Prosperity Plan I and II.
"It is a productive sector that can increase its
contribution to the national gross domestic product and enhance the country's
economic development and employment creation opportunities through increased
investments. The total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was estimated
as 15.8% in 2019 (USD 1.7 billion) and as 9.8% in 2020 (USD 1 billion) of the
total economy," he noted.
He informed investors the potential for investment in
tourism in Namibia is immense.
This includes opportunities to invest in hotels and lodges
as well as in tourism-related activities, such as conferencing, hunting,
adventure tourism, sports and cultural tourism.
An established framework is also in place for joint venture
partnerships with local communities.
"The fundamentals for investment in Namibia are well
established and sound. Namibia is one of the most stable democracies in Africa,
and it has enjoyed peace and stability in its 32 years of independence. The
country is home to world-class technology and communication infrastructure, air
and ground transport, ports and modern financial services and systems,"
Shifeta said.
Notably, he said, the pandemic has offered the government
the opportunity to improve the enabling framework for rebooting the overall
sector.
On a general level, he indicated, there has been improvement
in the overall business environment in the country as a result of government
policy interventions offering specific support to enterprises, improving the
ease of doing business, providing incentives to investors and prioritising an
investor-driven openness approach to economic growth and development.
Specific to tourism, he said, recovery, growth and expansion
are being prioritised through, amongst others, private-public sector
investments and partnerships; improving the destination price competitiveness;
perfecting environmental sustainability through robust policy frameworks;
enhancing tourist services infrastructure; utilising the immense cultural
resources, and promoting business travel.
Progressively, the government, through the environment
ministry, is aligned with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the importance
of engaging in safer travel protocols rather than stopping travel altogether
and supporting livelihoods that are dependent on travel and tourism economies.