Namibia Tourism Expo breaks records
Many records are going to be broken this year: there are more exhibitors than ever before. Moreover, due to the Motor Show and the Chefs Theatre, visitors are expected to climb well above the 10000 mark, the Gourmet Hall will provide the best cooking shows ever, Tourismus Namibia together with Republikein have produced the biggest (88 pages in all) Expo and tourism publication ever and NTB has been successful in inviting a record number of 54 international travel agents and journalists to come and see Namibia.
Even so, there are also developments within this sector that are less exciting and that have to be attended to. For example: in three to five years' time about a third of the small tourism establishments, will, according to FENATA's CEO, have become extinct or at least have difficulties surviving. If this is true, then now is the best time to act. Many "entrepreneurs" in Namibia are looking for easy money and think they can find it in the tourism sector. If you want to run a profitable establishment, you have to run it like a business and you have to offer value-for-money. A B&B, a guest farm or shuttle service is not a cash cow, i.e. something you can embark on, without market research, investment, marketing and properly trained staff. Competition all over the world is fierce and tourists are nowadays looking for quality, value-for-money, and service.
I am frequently a tourist to Namibia myself and can agree with FENATA's concern of unprofessionally run accommodations. I travelled through Botswana and the Caprivi region only recently. Botswana's national parks are a rip-off: you pay a lot and get nothing - but you have the experience of one of the most amazing places in the world, the Okavango Delta. However, if you can't offer travellers something special or unusual, or if you can't target a niche market, you can't charge high rates. At one of the lodges in the Caprivi we were charged N$100 per night per person and N$50 per night per child (!) for camping. The facilities were ok, but this wasn't a camping site overlooking the Victoria Falls, nor for that matter overlooking anything at all. High rates that are not justified by the experience, service or facilities are doomed.
Many establishments fall prey to this vicious cycle: due to various reasons, some don't get enough visitors, so they increase their prices, but because they increase rates, they get even less visitors.
For four days, the most important tourism players are locked away behind the walls of the Windhoek Show Grounds. What a perfect place to look out for opportunities, trends, challenges, threats and competition.
Even so, there are also developments within this sector that are less exciting and that have to be attended to. For example: in three to five years' time about a third of the small tourism establishments, will, according to FENATA's CEO, have become extinct or at least have difficulties surviving. If this is true, then now is the best time to act. Many "entrepreneurs" in Namibia are looking for easy money and think they can find it in the tourism sector. If you want to run a profitable establishment, you have to run it like a business and you have to offer value-for-money. A B&B, a guest farm or shuttle service is not a cash cow, i.e. something you can embark on, without market research, investment, marketing and properly trained staff. Competition all over the world is fierce and tourists are nowadays looking for quality, value-for-money, and service.
I am frequently a tourist to Namibia myself and can agree with FENATA's concern of unprofessionally run accommodations. I travelled through Botswana and the Caprivi region only recently. Botswana's national parks are a rip-off: you pay a lot and get nothing - but you have the experience of one of the most amazing places in the world, the Okavango Delta. However, if you can't offer travellers something special or unusual, or if you can't target a niche market, you can't charge high rates. At one of the lodges in the Caprivi we were charged N$100 per night per person and N$50 per night per child (!) for camping. The facilities were ok, but this wasn't a camping site overlooking the Victoria Falls, nor for that matter overlooking anything at all. High rates that are not justified by the experience, service or facilities are doomed.
Many establishments fall prey to this vicious cycle: due to various reasons, some don't get enough visitors, so they increase their prices, but because they increase rates, they get even less visitors.
For four days, the most important tourism players are locked away behind the walls of the Windhoek Show Grounds. What a perfect place to look out for opportunities, trends, challenges, threats and competition.
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