Namibia’s Hospitality Industry Upbeat On Recovery Prospects
THINGS are looking positive as the tourism sector heads towards recovery, says Hotel Association of Namibia (HAN) chief executive officer Gitta Paetzold.
Her optimism stems from data showing
that a national hotel occupancy rate of 39,4% was recorded during May
2022, up from 36,5% in the prior month and 25,1% in May 2021.
“We are
70% towards the level of normality we had in 2019. Meaning, while the
May 2019 figures for hotel rooms occupied climbed up to 55,8%, in May
this year we were just under 40%, which is about 70% of normalcy,” she
said.
This is the highest national occupancy rate since the outbreak
of the Covid pandemic, and the occupancy rate for May 2022 is the first
monthly data to surpass February 2020 figures.
According to a Simonis
Storm analysis of the data year-to-date (YTD), the national occupancy
rate averages 29,1%, compared to 22,5% for the same period in 2021,
showing an improvement in bookings made with hospitality establishments
nationwide.
The proportion of Namibian visitors at local
establishments continues on to decline. During May 2022, 30,6% of guests
were Namibians, compared to 37,7% during the prior month and 83,3% in
the second quarter of 2020.
“Most visitors in May 2022 came from
Germany, Switzerland and Austria (32,1%), South Africa (8,5%), France
(7,9%), Benelux (4,8%) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (2,7%) during
May 2022,” said Simonis.
“As specials to locals disappear and tourist
inflows improve, we see a higher proportion of foreigners – who
arguably have great spending power. This will benefit local hospitality
establishments and lead to positive spill-over effects in other
industries such as financial services retail, car rentals, restaurants,
and informal businesses like crafts and general services,” added
Simonis.
Regarding purpose of travel into Namibia, HAN data say 94,6% came for leisure, 2,8% for business and 2,6% for conferences.
Hospitality
establishments in the central area recorded the highest occupancy rate
(47,7%), followed by the northern area (41,7%), coastal area (35,5%) and
southern area (35,3%) in May 2022.
Tourists visiting the central
and northern areas have been on an increase YTD, whereas visits to the
coastal and southern areas are on the decline.
Prior to the
pandemic, the northern area typically hosted the largest number of
tourists during Namibia's peak tourist season (May to August).
Foreign
and regional arrivals at all airports in Namibia dipped slightly in May
2022 by 10,3% m/m and 9,1% m/m respectively. Total foreign arrivals
were 11 732 in May 2022, compared to 13 047 in April 2022.
“On an
annual basis, foreign and regional arrivals increased by 129,0% y/y
(year-on-year) and 80,5% y/y respectively. YTD, Namibia received a total
of 43 012 foreign arrivals at all its airports, compared to 18 360
during the same period last year. This represents a significant recovery
in tourist flows and could be the result of aggressive marketing by
various stakeholders in attracting foreigners to Namibia, declining
Covid cases globally and new airline routes to Namibia being offered.”
Regional
arrivals typically exceed foreign arrivals in the first months of each
year, however, foreign arrivals have been lower than regional arrivals
since January 2021. This potentially indicates that overseas travellers
are more cautious in choosing their holiday destinations or face more
stringent travel limitations compared to regional tourists.
Paetzold
said: “Namibia is rated as a country with one of the highest quality
medical services in southern Africa – apart from South Africa, and for
the past few years we have already seen a very sizeable number of
regional nationals, especially Angolan, travel to Namibia for medical
reasons, be it dentistry, optometry, surgery and other medical
treatment”.
