The sky is the limit for Selma Jonas

The Namibia Express Travel and Tourism Information Centre in Windhoek was opened by the deputy minister of environment and tourism, Tommy Nambahu, last week.This centre specialises in passenger and cargo services, client bookings as well as tours around the country. It was established by a young Namibian woman, Selma Jonas, and is located in the Carl List Building in Windhoek.“She is indeed a shining example for young Namibians to emulate, especially to aspiring emerging entrepreneurs. She has demonstrated that not even the sky is the limit as her business is already conquering the global skies. I am informed that currently, she is the only black Namibian woman accredited by the International Air Transport Association, IATA,” said Nambahu. According to Nambahu the centre has been in operation for over a year and has become one of the strategic partners of the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), making a great contribution to the economy.He said the centre would play a significant role in promoting the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. It will also address the challenges outlined in the Namibian National Sustainable Tourism Growth and Development Strategy as well as the Namibian National Tourism Investment Promotion Profile, said Nambahu. According to him the fourth National Development Plan (NDP 4) saw tourism as one of the key pillars of Namibia's economic policy and requested the full and effective implementation of the National Tourism Growth and Strategy, which the ministry launched last year. Nambahu said the fifth National Development Plan was now being developed and tourism was again earmarked as one of the priority economic sectors. Some of the targets in the strategy to be achieved by the year 2026 are for the country to be ranked the most competitive destination in Africa, and the tourism sector to be the largest contributor to Namibia's Gross Domestic Product. The aim is to increase the length of tourists' stay in the country from the current eight days to 22 days. Nambahu further said that many people still believed that tourism was only for foreign nationals.“The question however is, how much do we know about our own country? How often do we travel to different places of our country as Namibians?”He said domestic tourism needed to be promoted, and the onus lay on local tour operators and in particular the NTB to ensure that this segment of tourism is popularised.“As Namibians, it is time that we start going beyond Etosha National Park and Swakopmund. There are many majestic places in this country that local people need to visit. Places such as Twyfelfontein, Sossusvlei, Fish River Canyon and Ruacana Falls, to name but a few.”He called upon all local tour operators together with the NTB to do more in promoting domestic tourist destinations and to strengthen their marketing strategies that promote domestic tourism. Nambahu said the country's cultural diversity, landscapes and wildlife existed not only to be explored by foreign nationals, but by Namibians too. ELLANIE SMIT

The sky is the limit for Selma Jonas

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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The sky is the limit for Selma Jonas

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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