Sunday, October 22, 2023
During the third quarter of 2023, Namibia finished with a 65 percent occupancy rate throughout the country’s lodging businesses, The Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) highlighted on Thursday.
HAN CEO Gitta Paetzold expressed satisfaction and optimism with the September accommodation occupancy data, which was announced on Thursday.
“This figure is notably higher than the equivalent period in 2019, surpassing it by a quarter of a percent. Comparative data points to an upswing fueled by increased arrivals from Central Europe, with German-speaking countries, France, and Italy registering growth rates of over 3 percent compared to 2019 levels,” Xinhua quoted her as saying.
Despite the overall favourable trend, Paetzold reported a minor drop of just over 2% in September 2023 compared to September 2019, indicating a slight divergence from the rise seen in July and August of this year.
Paetzold further stated that leisure travel continues to dominate occupancy levels in Namibian lodging businesses. Some hotels, on the other hand, are seeing a modest increase in demand for business and conference packages, indicating a potential market change.
According to Paetzold, it has been underlined in talks within the travel industry that the performance of the lodging sector outpaces the recovery of the broader tour operation sector.
“This underscores the resilience of the online reservations and self-drive components of the Namibian tourism market, which were the first to fully rebound and expand,” she said.
Looking ahead to 2024, she observes that early predictions indicate a continued recovery in the group travel market, with encouraging forward reservations in this section of the business.
“As Namibia now gradually moves into the tourism shoulder season, it is hoped that preparations both in terms of strong marketing efforts within the international and regional markets are being prepared, while service providers and property and infrastructure owners use the time for maintenance, skills
development and product optimization, to ensure that Namibia can keep the momentum of a growing and vibrant tourism industry,” she concluded.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
