Minister of Environment Forestry and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta has expressed delight at the increase in the number of travellers who visited Namibia in the past year.

Launching Namibia’s Tourism Statistics Report for 2023 yesterday in the capital, he noted that the industry has made an impressive recovery following the devastating impact of Covid-19.

Namibia received 863 872 international tourist arrivals in 2023, compared to 461 027 recorded in 2022.

“The year 2023 proved to be a good year with regard to tourist arrivals. It has been a significant recovery after the negative effect of Covid-19 on international tourist arrivals,” Shifeta said.

He said that the notable increase demonstrates that the demand for Namibia as a tourist destination for visitors is steadily growing. Last year’s figures represent a 54% recovery level towards tourist arrival numbers of the time before Covid-19.

South Africa remains the biggest tourist source market for Namibia in Africa. Angola, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe form part of the top African visitors. Abroad, Germany continues to dominate the overseas market, followed by the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands.

Shifeta said the majority of visitors, or 36.8% of the total inbound tourists, came to Namibia between September and December 2023. He added that 31.9% arrived between May to August, and 31.4% between January to April 2023.

The ministry is implementing the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan that sets out a framework for a strategic approach to tourism policy intervention.

“While we celebrate our successes of 2023, the tourism sector must also acknowledge the challenges we face today. The global economic landscape, climate change and occasional security concerns continue to impact our tourism industry. However, we are committed to addressing these challenges as Government, of course in partnership with all stakeholders,” he said.

-Nampa