Tourism Expo 2023 aims beyond borders

The Tourism Expo 2023 was launched on Friday at the Windhoek Country Club, the venue where this year’s event will be held from 26 to 28 April.

At the launch, environment, forestry and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta said the expo should be regarded by the tourism sector as an ideal opportunity to redouble its efforts to reach the tourism figures the sector reported before the Covid-19 pandemic set in.

The theme for this year's expo is "Beyond Borders," and aims to promote solutions in the region by understanding how Namibia and its neighbours can work together.

Janette Fourie, a Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) director, challenged the sector to reserve their stands at the tourism expo early to ensure the expo can bring together all stakeholders in an effort to network while benefitting from business opportunities.

A team effort

Albe Botha, Namibia Media Holdings' (NMH) chief executive officer, said the expo highlights the importance of the Namibian tourism industry and offers an ideal chance to celebrate the unique experiences the country has to offer.

In his welcome speech, he stressed NMH's role as a facilitator of the annual event and said the expo is bigger than the event's organisers.

Botha thanked the minister for his "long-time support of this event and your unwavering support in promoting tourism in this country. Without your support and understanding, this event would not be possible."

Upward trend

Shifeta said tourist arrival numbers are showing positive trends, steadily increasing since 2021 by 37.3% (from 169 565 in 2020 to 232 756 tourist arrivals in 2021) and by 4.6% to a total of 243 466 in the 2022 tourism seasons.

"This growth is commendable considering the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 on the tourism sector globally and in Namibia since its onset in late 2019. However, these visitor numbers remain very low for this country as it only represents about 15% of the pre-Covid-19 numbers and too low to regain pre-Covid employment numbers in the sector."

The Tourism Expo 2023 is focused on promoting tourism not just as a destination in Namibia but in the southern African region overall.

The event will feature formalised stands and engagements along with networking and conferencing sessions.

Big event

The focus lies on four specific areas of the country that are connected to the official borders but in fact transcend these boundaries, namely the /Ai -/Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the Iona-Skeleton Coast Transfrontier Park and the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA).

The expo aims to promote these areas to tourists and help them understand the uniqueness of each place.

Shifeta commended the fact that the 'Town of the Year' competition will take place again, allowing towns to showcase their uniqueness and engage with social media in order to promote themselves as tourist attractions.

The popular 'Bride of the Year' competition will this year also showcase the hospitality sector’s conferencing capabilities.

The Namibia Tourism Expo 2023 will be open to the public from 16:00 to 22:00 every day from Wednesday to Friday, while networking and conference sessions will be conducted from 12:00 to 16:00 every day.

For more information, the public can contact Michelle le Roux at 264 81 286 4311 or [email protected].