WINDHOEK, June 20 — Namibia recorded a national hospitality occupancy rate of 39.4 percent in May, compared to 36.5 percent in the prior month and 25.1 percent in May 2021, according to the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN).
This is the highest national occupancy rate since the pandemic outbreak, investment research firm Simonis Storm Securities (SSS) economist Theo Klein said Monday in an analysis.
“This represents a significant recovery in tourist flows and could be the results of aggressive marketing by various stakeholders in attracting foreigners to Namibia, declining COVID-19 cases globally, and new airline routes to Namibia being offered,” Klein said.
According to Klein, year-to-date, the national occupancy rate averages 29.1 percent, compared to 22.5 percent for the same period in 2021, showing an improvement in bookings made with nationwide hospitality establishments.
“The tourism sector remains light in a dark tunnel for the Namibia economy. With the recovery in tourist levels, we believe complementary sectors of the economy to tourism will also see an improvement in activity. With no expected disruptions to tourist flows, we continue to believe the tourism sector to be one of the few supporting our 2.5 percent GDP forecast for 2022,” he concluded.
According to Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism’s latest report, the country drew its biggest percentage of tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 from South Africa and Germany accounting for 60.8 percent of the total tourist arrivals. (Xinhua)
