Expand water-based tourism in Namibia

Namibia’s water-based tourism is one of the activities that has not enjoyed much focus in terms of previous marketing initiatives by the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB)."We have so many attractions linked to that, so we can expand and push this out to our audience," said Charmaine Matheus, head of marketing at NTB, during a presentation of its draft marketing strategy for 2023/2024 during a stakeholder discussion in Windhoek.NTB CEO Digu //Naobeb said they embarked on the process to engage with stakeholders on the draft strategy almost two years ago."There have been expectations in the past... but if your budget does not speak to it, you will have a dilemma that you cannot enter those markets, which require a lot of capital outlay."Planning ahead//Naobeb added that Namibia has a lot to offer in the tourism environment, such as honeymooners, stargazers, and more."But we have to be strategic about that. What is it that we are going to concentrate on as a core message that we are going to keep on giving?"He said the other aspect is digital marketing.Matheus said as with any other plan, they started off by analysing their environment and identifying some of the challenges and opportunities in the sector.She said in terms of strengths, a key area is the competitive destination brand values of Namibia, while with regards to opportunities, there are emerging high-spending international and regional source markets and untapped domestic market segments.Matheus said one of the weaknesses is issues related to visa facilitation and rising crime against tourists, while threats to the industry are the perceived high costs of accommodation and lodging in Namibia.According to a source market overview, Namibia’s prime markets are South Africa and domestic tourism, China, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and the US.Matheus said NTB understands the focus activities for Namibia’s tourists; however, the only challenge is that they have not really zoomed in on statistics in terms of contribution per activity."This is now where we come in with our digital platforms and zoom in on key activities where we can really derive maximum value and market."

Expand water-based tourism in Namibia

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-07

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Expand water-based tourism in Namibia

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-07

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