Namibia can expect 190 942 foreign tourist arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 26.6 per cent increase from the third quarter, when 150 491 arrivals were recorded between July and September.
A total of 76 472 foreign arrivals were recorded in the first quarter (January to March), while 119 134 foreign arrivals were recorded in the second quarter (April to June), representing a 55.8 per cent increase from the first quarter to the second quarter.
These statistics were shared by Erongo Governor Neville Andre Itope, who is also the chairperson of the Erongo Tourism Forum (ETF) at the forum’s stakeholder workshop on Wednesday.
According to Itope, this increase is a sign that the local tourism sector is on the right trajectory to recover, although a lot of work is still needed in order to get tourism back to the pre-Covid-19 era.
“In order to plan well to achieve the aforementioned, we are guided by the Namibian Tourism Sector Recovery Plan 2022-2024, with a specific focus on Strategic Intervention 2, which deals with aggressive online marketing and promotion campaigns to attract new geo and special segments of the global tourism market. We therefore need to develop our products in line with the demands from the market. We equally need to look at building a strong brand for Namibia by utilising multiple advertising platforms,” the governor said.
The workshop aims to develop an action plan for the ETF. It will also tackle a wide range of relevant topics and culminate in the development of a three-year action plan for the forum, as well as the appointment of a task force to spearhead the Destination Tourism Hub.
Launched in June 2022, the ETF’s main objectives is to oversee and coordinate regional tourism development, economic growth and equitable benefit distribution from tourism.
Some other key functions include acting as a platform for information sharing regarding tourism development and growth; identifying challenges of tourism development in the region, and advising the government and the private sector on possible solutions to address these challenges.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
