Domestic tourism generates N$6bn

The 2015 survey that was launched at the Namibia Tourism Expo is the first of its kind to be conducted since the 2007 survey.
There are, however, no figures in the survey indicating whether there has been an increase or decrease in domestic tourism over the past few years.
According to the survey, the significance of the domestic market to boost total tourism demand, and to offset potential economic shocks from the international tourist source markets, cannot be overstated.
Namibia Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer Digu //Noabeb said that Namibia will this year definitely experience a challenge in the tourism sector, due to the ever-increasing demand to travel in Namibia. According to //Noabeb available data suggests that Namibia will have a short supply of accommodation as from June to mid-October this year.
He said as much as conditions are looking good and consumer confidence in Namibia is high, as a result of safety, security, peace and tranquillity, the NTB is cautiously optimistic, given the air access and business visa requirements may soon cause a regression, if not addressed soon.
The survey indicates that of the total number of domestic trips, 2.05 million were day trips (N$2.04 billion) and 3.74 million were overnight trips (N$4.26 billion).
According to the survey, visiting friends and family were the most popular reason for taking day trips, representing 24% or around 480 000 in 2015.
Combining these with wedding and funerals, which were another form of visiting friends and families, it shows that 33% of all day visits or around 700 000 were for some form of visiting friends or family.
Leisure and holiday travel accounted for almost 14%, around 280 000 of all day trips, and combined with shopping, which is also a form of leisure travel at 17%, it generated a total of 31% - almost 630 000 of all day trips.
According to the survey the average spending per person on a day trip in Namibia was N$993, with the highest spenders being business travellers (N$1 598).
The most popular activities while on a day trip are visiting friends and family (34%), shopping (31%) and eating out (17%).
Interestingly, residents from destinations in the Zambezi Region were the most popular places for day visitors living in the North (41%), followed by destinations in the Otjozondjupa Region (27%).
Khomas residents preferred to visit destinations in the Otjozondjupa Region (21%) followed by Hardap (18%) and Windhoek (12%).
Erongo residents on the other hand chose to visit other destinations in Erongo, accounting for 43%.
Day trips to Windhoek accounted for almost 17% of all visits and trips to the Kunene Region accounted for 11%.
Over half of the southern residents (51%) visited destinations in the Hardap Region, while over 39% of their trips were to Windhoek.
Meanwhile, the main reasons for taking overnight trips were to visit friends and families, as well as leisure and holiday trips. Both were tied at 32%, accounting for about 1.2 million trips taken during last year.
The most popular activities on an overnight visit are visiting with friends and family (65%) shopping (29%) and wedding and funerals (23%).
The average expenditure on a trip is N$220 per person, with the highest spenders being shoppers (N$736).
According to the survey the average length of stay on an overnight trip is 5.4 nights, and the accommodation used is mostly with friends and family (55%), a second home (24%) and serviced accommodation (12%).
About 27% of all residents in the northern regions undertook overnight trips to the Zambezi Region, while destinations in Otjozondjupa accounted for 15%, with Windhoek accounting for almost 11%.
Khomas residents preferred the Hardap Region for overnight trips (13%), while Swakopmund was the second most popular (11%) and the Omaheke Region accounted for a further 9%. Windhoek was the most popular destination (28%), when it came to Erongo residents going on overnight trips. Destinations in Erongo were the second most popular, accounting for 19%, and Otjozondjupa 8%.
Windhoek was also the most popular for residents from the South (25%), while almost 21% of trips were to destinations in Hardap and over 19% to Swakopmund.

ELLANIE SMIT