WINDHOEK, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) on Tuesday released its 2024 annual tourism occupancy report, showcasing continued growth in this vital sector of the southwestern African nation's economy.
With the national room occupancy rate reaching 54.48 percent, the industry surpassed 2019 levels, demonstrating a remarkable recovery from the pandemic's devastating impact.
"This is a significant achievement," HAN Chief Executive Gitta Paetzold said, adding that occupancy is nearly 3 percent higher than in 2023 and even surpasses the 2019 figure by 1 percent before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paetzold highlighted the continued growth of key markets like Central Europe, the United States and Britain.
"Central Europe, as Namibia's most established and biggest source market, has even shown continued growth over the past two years, as are the markets of the United States and Britain," she noted while acknowledging that African and Asian markets are still recovering.
Paetzold, however, observed a decline in domestic tourism compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Looking ahead, Paetzold emphasized the importance of air connectivity to the country's tourism sector. She said that the strong performance of the Central European market is directly linked to easy access to Namibia through the direct airline connectivity between Windhoek, the Namibian capital, and the international hub in Frankfurt, Germany.
"While we look forward to seeing Windhoek connected directly to Munich as from April, as a hub for southern Germany/Austria and other southern European markets, it is imperative to add to Namibia's air access capacity, if we want to see the arrival numbers to Namibia grow in the future," she said. "We sincerely hope that very soon Namibia will pronounce itself clearly and prominently about its new visa policy envisaged to be introduced on April 1, to reassure our established and new potential travel markets that Namibia remains open and easily accessible for travelers from across the globe." ■
