No exclusive rights for Sandwich harbour - Shifeta

All current tour operators will continue to have access to the Sandwich Harbour area as usual, as long as they pay all relevant fees.

This is according to tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta, who responded to questions posed in parliament regarding the issue of tourism concessions in protected areas.

“No Namibian will be excluded from entering Sandwich Harbour; hence, no exclusive rights will be given to any company to conduct tours in Sandwich Harbour. Awarding the Sandwich Harbour as a concession will not in any way affect access to the area," the minister said.

Shifeta also emphasised that no single operator will be allowed to set the permit fees, as alleged, and that this is the responsibility of the ministry.

Best prices

Shifeta gave assurances that the ministry will ensure that fees charged to visitors will remain lower compared to neighbouring countries and across Africa.

Shifeta pointed out that the Etosha and Namib Naukluft National Parks are the top two tourist destinations in Namibia and that the current park entrance fee stands at N$100 per day for SADC tourists and N$150 per day for international tourists.

Comparing park entrance fees charged regionally with sites similar to Etosha and the Namib Naukluft Park, Shifeta said that in Zimbabwe, fees are N$500 for SADC tourists and N$1 000 for international tourists; in Zambia, entrance fees are N$400 for SADC tourists and N$500 for international tourists; in Botswana, entrance fees are N$283 for SADC tourists and N$373 for international tourists; and in South Africa, entrance fees are N$257 for SADC tourists and N$535 for international tourists.

“Based on these prices, it is clear that concerns that Namibia will become an expensive tourist destination are unfounded and the country will remain the cheapest tourist destination in Africa.”

Advantaged

Shifeta also stressed that no awarded concession in Namibia has disadvantaged any small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but in fact, previously disadvantaged Namibians owning SMEs have added advantage in the concession awarding process.

He said that, just like other government entities, the tourism ministry has been working on transforming the tourism industry to reflect the composition of the population.

“The ministry will never award concessions that will have detrimental effects on the Namibian tour operators,” said Shifeta.

Best in the world

He said the ministry's aim is to improve service delivery and make Namibia one of the best and most affordable tourism destinations.

Shifeta explained that the ministry awards concessions directly to communities living within or adjacent to the protected areas without going through the tender process.

He said in all the protected areas with concessions, namely Etosha, Namib Naukluft, Skeleton Coast, Dorob and Bwabwata National Parks, there are concessions awarded directly to communities.

"However, communities awarded concessions directly still get assisted by the ministry to appoint investors through a tender process," the minister explained.

Shifeta explained that all concessions go through the tender process to become operational, either to procure an investor for a certain community or to appoint an operator.

He said that in all the recent concessions awarded, communities received 75% of the concession fees and the government only 25%. So, irrespective of whether the concession is awarded to a local community or to a private company, the benefits are similar, he said.

“The minister is only empowered by the law to directly award concessions to local communities without following the tender process. Even if a concession is awarded directly to the local community, an investor will still be needed, as local communities do not have the resources to implement concessions. The investors will still be appointed through the tender process,” Shifeta said.