Namibia’s Q3 tourism accommodation figures encouraging: report

WINDHOEK, Oct. 23 — Namibia’s room and bed occupancy in September came in with an average of under 53 percent, according to the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) 3rd quarter 2022 report for tourism accommodation released Thursday.
This indicates that tourism recovery has doubled since last year, although 15 percent lower than the 2019 figures for the same month, HAN chief executive officer Gitta Paetzold said in an analysis on Thursday.
Paetzold said when looking at the 3rd quarter of this year, the average of 53.5 percent occupancy across the country is more than two-and-a-half times better than last year, when the average occupancy was just under 20 percent only, and a mere 11 percent lower than the average occupancy of the 3rd quarter of 2019.
“All in all, it is a very positive and encouraging result to see the Namibian tourism recovery advance to this level in this short period and proof that most of our source markets are back in full swing,” she said.
According to Paetzold, central Europe is still Namibia’s strongest market with over 66 percent, of which over 35 percent stems from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but the French and Italian markets were also prominent in both August and September.
“The U.S. market also seems to have recovered well, making up over 4 percent of the occupancy in September, almost double to what it was in 2021,” she noted.
Meanwhile, Paetzold said the level of occupancy by Namibians in the 3rd quarter stood at 19.5 percent, which is 3 percent lower than what it was in 2019, which could be a result of the growing financial constraints felt by Namibians.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, travel and tourism contributed approximately 14.7 percent of the gross domestic product in Namibia, and 15.4 percent to total employment in 2019. (Xinhua)