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Second u2018Local Tourism is Lekkeru2019 expo coming
Second u2018Local Tourism is Lekkeru2019 expo coming

Second ‘Local Tourism is Lekker’ expo coming

With international travel crippled by the pandemic, the hard-hit hospitality sector is turning its attention to domestic tourism.
Ellanie Smit
ELLANIE SMIT

WINDHOEK

The second 'Local Tourism is Lekker' expo and networking event will be held in Swakopmund at the end of this month.

Last December, the event was introduced for the first time in Windhoek with the aim to provide tourism service suppliers a platform to introduce and exhibit special offers for the local and Southern African Development Community (SADC) market.

“Last year was catastrophic for tourism and the thousands of people who depend on it. After decades of extraordinary growth, the sector was brought to a near-complete standstill by the Covid-19 pandemic,” a statement issued by the expo organisers read.

The tourism sector had shown sustained year-on-year growth culminating in a record breaking 1.596 million tourists arriving in Namibia in 2019.

According to the Tourist Statistical Report for 2020, only 169 565 tourists arrived in Namibia last year, and 81% of these arrived during January to March, before the pandemic reached the country.

“This shows an overall decline of 89% in terms of tourist arrivals to Namibia in 2020 compared to 2019.”

According to the statement, not only have tourist arrivals dropped to levels not seen before, but the recovery progress is also very slow.

Ever-changing restrictions

“International travellers’ confidence is affected by the ever-changing travel restrictions that cannot be fully lifted right now. Added to that, we have the costs of tests, the cancellation or rescheduling of flights and general uncertainty about the evolution of the virus.”

It, however, noted that tourists are desperately needed right now and ‘Local Tourism is Lekker’ recognised as early as March last year that domestic and regional tourism would play a pivotal role in mitigating the impacts of Covid-19.

The three-day expo, which will take place from 28 to 30 October, will be held at the Atlantic Villa Boutique Guest House.

Entrance fees are N$50 per adult and N$20 for children between six and 12, while exhibitors’ fees are N$1 200.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the tourism industry due to the resulting travel restrictions as well as slump in demand among travellers, which inevitably gave rise to the need for reassessments, strategising and supportive cooperation.

“With this in mind, we are inviting tourism businesses to use the expo as a central hub to connect with customers and distribute rates.”

Network and strategise

A general networking event will be hosted on 29 October for members of the tourism sector who wish to exchange ideas and strategies amongst each other.

The ‘Local Tourism is Lekker’ platform was established in March 2020 and currently has over 23 000 members, with an average of 9 000 active members daily on Facebook and countless specials posted, along with hundreds of local and SADC travellers assisted.

The initiative is run on a pro bono basis by Yvonne von Holtz, Joseph Kafunda, Heiko Dörgeloh and Hans Soltau.

[email protected]

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-28

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 199.60/OZ UP +0.40% | Copper US$ 3.98/lb DOWN -0.0019 | Zinc US$ 2 441.60/T DOWN -0.61% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 86.61/BBP UP +0.26% | Platinum US$ 896.95/OZ UP +0.23% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.97 | EUR to NAD 20.54 | CNY to NAD 2.63 | USD to NAD 19.05 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.45 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.27 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 19.05 | USD to ZMW 24.97 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 73909.5 Up +0.41% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1516.02 Down -0.13% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12981.98 Up +0.34% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 28224.37 Down -2.87% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 199.60/OZ UP +0.40% | Copper US$ 3.98/lb DOWN -0.0019 | Zinc US$ 2 441.60/T DOWN -0.61% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 86.61/BBP UP +0.26% | Platinum US$ 896.95/OZ UP +0.23%