Tour operators criticise 25-year Sandwich Harbour concession

Tour operators have said the decision by the environment and tourism ministry to award a 25-year activity concession for Sandwich Harbour concentrates control of access to the area in the hands of a competing operator.

The ministry has awarded the concession to Sandwich Dune Tours and Safari, owned by Kenneth Kapitako Napenda. The concession is scheduled to take effect on 1 April.

The ministry's deputy executive director for natural resource management, Colger Sikopo, defended the process and scope of the concession at a stakeholder meeting in Swakopmund last week.

Sikopo said the concession was advertised on 28 March 2024, remained open for two months and was awarded following an evaluation process that had already withstood a court challenge.

Under the concession, the successful bidder will have exclusive rights to manage access control at the Sandwich Harbour gate, operate a kiosk, maintain ablution facilities, guide self-drive tourists who arrive without a registered tour operator, guide club activities and levy a fixed concession fee per visitor.

Ministry officials confirmed that private individuals who are not registered tour operators will no longer be allowed to enter Sandwich Harbour unguided, even if they are Namibian citizens.

“If you are not a registered operator, then you must be guided."

Moreover, self-drive visitors arriving without a registered guide will be required to be led by the concessionaire.

“There will be no more self-driving tourists going into Sandwich Harbour without being guided,” Sikopo stated.

The tourism ministry stressed that existing tour operators will not be excluded from operating in the park.

However, during a heated debate, several operators argued that granting access-control powers to a company operating in the same market creates an uneven playing field and undermines fair competition.

Competition-related concerns

Tour operators argued the 25-year term limits the state’s ability to review or correct the arrangement should operational, environmental or competition-related problems arise.

“This is a national park. It belongs to every citizen. It should not be right that a private entity manages and makes decisions in a government area,” one speaker said.

However, the ministry maintained that it will retain oversight and enforcement authority.

“The concessionaire must deliver on the contract,” Sikopo explained.

Participants also asked the ministry to disclose how many other concessions the successful bidder already holds, arguing that this information is relevant to competition and public trust.

Officials declined to provide those details, saying the meeting was limited to Sandwich Harbour and that other concessions were “not relevant to this discussion”.

The ministry noted that the concession was advertised publicly, evaluated through a formal tender process and awarded in line with the Nature Conservation Amendment Act and the Namib-Naukluft Park Management Plan.

Park fee increase

The ministry also confirmed that national park entrance and conservation fees across Namibia will increase from April 2026, but that Sandwich Harbour park fees will remain unchanged. Instead, the concessionaire will charge a fixed per-person concession fee in addition to existing park fees.

The concession fee has been set at N$40 for Namibian visitors, N$80 for visitors from the Southern African Development Community and N$120 for international visitors. For overseas tourists, this brings the total daily cost of accessing Sandwich Harbour to N$270, comprising the current N$150 park fee and the N$120 concession fee.

“For Sandwich Harbour, the park fee remains the same. What is added is the concession fee,” officials said, explaining that the combined amount was intended to align with entry fees applicable in other national parks.

This explanation did little to ease concerns among operators.

Some questioned why access control and fee collection were not retained directly by the state rather than delegated to a private operator.

“Why are we paying two places, but only one is doing the work?” one operator asked.

Officials responded that concessionaires invest upfront, operate infrastructure and pay a portion of their turnover back to the government and the surrounding communities.

“About eight percent goes back to government and the community,” an official said.

Operational concerns were also raised, including the risk of congestion at the entrance gate, potential delays to tightly scheduled tours and uncertainty around payment systems.

“We can’t have a situation where 100 vehicles queue for an hour and guests lose their tour time,” one operator warned.

The ministry acknowledged the concern and said payments would not be taken at the gate.

Officials said systems would be designed to allow advance payment to prevent bottlenecks.

Operators questioned who would enforce hygiene standards, environmental compliance and fair treatment of tour operators under the new system.

Napenda indicated that he would respond to questions but had not done so by the time of going to press.