Africa is Namibia’s biggest tourist

More than one million tourists crossed Namibia’s borders in 2011. This is up from just under a million tourists visiting the country in 2010.

The 2011 Tourism Statistics report was released by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) yesterday.

The report showed that while tourist numbers from accross Africa has increased, visitors from overseas, especially Europe and north-America, declined by 10 % compared to 2010. Specifically tourist numbers from Europe dropped by 11,2 % – which has sounded the alarm bells for the tourism industry in Namibia.

Namibia’s most prolific overseas visitors segment – Germany – dropped from 87 072 people in 2010 to 79 721 last year.

But the statistics do have positive overtones.

MET’s Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah noted that tourism statistics are vital for the accurate navigation towards Namibia’s long-term tourism development goals and these numbers will focus the industry to gear up where it is needed.

Moreover, while the numbers in certain segments may have dropped, tourism is still a vital Namibian income sector.

“Today we know that for every 12 tourists arriving in Namibia, one job is created”.

In Summary, the biggest visitors to Namibia are Angolan, South African and Zambian nationals. More than 360 000 Angolans and close to 273 000 South Africans made Namibia a must visit destination in 2011.

On the heels of these three, the number of visitors from most to least were from Germany, Zimbabwe, the UK and the USA. In total, compared to 2010, there was an increase of 4,4 % of tourists visiting our shores.