August’s room/bed occupancy levels for Namibia are showing some signs of recovery compared with July’s figures for this year, as well as last year’s August figures.

CEO of the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN), Gitta Paetzold, said August traditionally represented the most active and busy tourism month for the association.

“It is pleasing to note that in August 2021, we could more than double the performance compared with last year, to reach almost 20% occupancy – compared with just over 8% last year,” she said.

Pre-COVID, HAN members’ occupancy levels reached 67.1%, which still meant that, despite the increase this year, figures were still less than one-third of the “normal” tourism flow, said Paetzold.

She added, however, that the August figures were encouraging. “Given the relaxation of restrictions and more nations recognising Namibia as a low-risk and ideal travel destination, this may help us move upward and forward towards our target of a reasonable tourism recovery for the rest of the year.”