Rising crime hampers investment in tourism

ELLANIE SMIT



Investment in the tourism industry is being hampered by crime and bureaucratic red tape in the issuance of visas and permits to tourists.

These are just some of the barriers cited by the tourism industry that Namibia needs to overcome if it intends to grow the sector further.

However, Namibia aims to undertake substantial investment projects in the sector to increase tourist arrivals and their spending in Namibia.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism yesterday launched the National Sustainable Tourism Growth and Development Strategy (2016 -2026) and the National Tourism Investment Profile and Promotion Strategy.

Giving an overview of the two documents, the director of tourism and gaming, Sem Shikongo, said there is a lack of understanding of the tourism market, which results in unsustainable investments.

He said there is also a lack of information sharing and communication within the sector. “We do not talk to each other,” he said.

Shikongo said there is also no national marketing strategy focusing on priority tourism markets.

Other challenges are a lack of skilled people and the slow implementation of a policy on recognition of prior learning.

According to Shikongo, attracting investment in communal areas remains a major challenge because of land tenure concerns, communications challenges, cultural and traditional concerns, infrastructural development, lack of skills and training, lack of serviced land and the fact that ownership rights are not clear.

Shikongo said access to capital remains a critical challenge in the sector. “This is especially important for not only regulation, but also for the development sector.”

He said an assessment should be done of all the tax and levy regimes applicable in the sector and on this basis corrective measures should be proposed.

Shikongo said the aim of the new investment strategy is to attract more tourists and diversify tourism products.

Under this strategy certain key tourism investment projects have been identified. These include cruise tourism, tourism dry ports, regional convention centres, a state-of-the-art cyber building, film tourism, car testing, a regional airline and a strategic jet fuel supply centre.

Shikongo explained that the aim of the tourism dry ports is for towns to create spaces where all buses and taxis can stop, instead of different designated spaces for individual buses.

He said such spaces should offer coffee shops and restaurants for travellers. The same should be done with taxis travelling to the north.

Explaining the proposed “cyber building”, he said the aim is to have a regional headquarters in Windhoek to serve the IT sector. The plan is to attract the technology industry to Namibia as part of a multiplier effect of tourism. This could help Namibia become a critical player in the IT and other technology sectors in the region.

Shikongo said the film industry in Namibia is growing and the country should develop infrastructure for filmmaking or outsource to South Africa to benefit more from the sector.

With regard to car testing, he said the car industry is always looking for extreme environments to test new models, which Namibia has plenty of. Therefore the country should look into developing infrastructure for this.

Another proposed investment is a convention centre for hosting large international events.

The jet fuel supply across the country is a limiting factor and therefore investment in the supply of jet fuel is needed to meet the demand. It is proposed that such centres should be built in the southern, north-eastern and central northern parts of Namibia.