Rental vehicle shortage hits tourism sector

While occupancy rates at tourism establishments are showing a steady increase, a concern within the sector is a shortage of vehicles for rent for the ever-increasing self-drive market.According to the CEO of the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN), Gitta Paetzold, Namibian car rental companies currently carry a fleet of just over a quarter of what they held in 2019, having been forced to sell off a large part of their fleet during the two previous years due to the impact of the pandemic.“Vehicle production in southern Africa has been severely delayed due to supply chain interruptions caused by the pandemic and the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, with huge damage to the Toyota plant there, which have only compounded the problem.”Paetzold said it is thus good news that FlyNamibia has launched its national safari route, taking guests to key tourism attractions such as Sossusvlei, Swakopmund and Etosha.“This may alleviate the pressure on the need for rental vehicles, and given the rising fuel prices, may also become an affordable and safe way of transport for travellers within our country.Interesting comparisonsThe latest tourism accommodation statistics indicate that occupancy rates for the first quarter of this year stand at 22.67%, nearly 3% higher than the same time last year.In the first quarter of 2021, occupancy rates stood at 19.5%, while in 2020 it was 33%.Paetzold said when compared to the pre-Covid-19 era, when the occupancy rate was 40.48%, it means “we have at least exceeded the 50% mark of recovery this year”.She added that interesting comparisons can also be made when looking at the source markets of visitors to establishments.According to her, in the first quarter of 2022, some 33% of visitors came from greater Europe, 23% of whom were from the core markets Germany, Switzerland and Austria, compared to 20% of European visitors in 2021 - nearly 14% of whom were from the thee core markets.ellanie@namibansun.com

Rental vehicle shortage hits tourism sector

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

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Rental vehicle shortage hits tourism sector

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

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