The Namibia Competition Commission (NaCC) is being urged to widen its focus and investigate what industry players describe as clear anti-competitive practices within Namibia’s tourism sector—specifically the dominance of Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) and exclusive access arrangements at Sossusvlei.
This is according to a letter by Dr Chris Brown, CEO of the Namibian Chamber of Environment, to the NaCC.
He argued that while the NaCC is pursuing an investigation into joint-venture (JV) tourism lodges in communal conservancies, it is overlooking more significant competition concerns that have long affected the industry.
At the centre of the criticism is NWR’s control over accommodation in Namibia’s national parks. The state-owned entity operates lodges across vast protected areas, effectively excluding private operators from entering the market.
Brown said that this monopoly limits competition, contributes to poor service standards, and ultimately harms Namibia’s global tourism reputation.
“There is little incentive to improve when there is no competition,” he said, adding that the situation could contravene key provisions of the Competition Act.
Equally concerning, Brown said, is a recent exclusive tourism access agreement in Sossusvlei, which provides another example that is overlooked by the NaCC.
“In this case, local guides are prevented from accessing this major tourism attraction with their guests. Instead, they have to pay for a short shuttle service provided by one transport company from the parking area to the attraction.”
He said that while the tender for this service was initially advertised as non-exclusive and therefore open to competition, MEFT changed the terms to exclusive after the tender was awarded.
Brown said that these examples present a far stronger case for investigation than the JV tourism model currently under scrutiny.
The NaCC’s ongoing probe stems from a complaint from the mining sector, targeting exclusivity clauses in tourism concessions.
However, critics point out that similar exclusivity exists in mining through Exclusive Prospecting Licences (EPLs), raising questions about consistency in regulatory enforcement.
“If exclusivity is acceptable in mining due to the nature of the industry, then the same principle should apply to tourism joint ventures,” Brown said.
The JV tourism model, particularly in communal conservancies, has been central to Namibia’s conservation and rural development success. These partnerships enable communities to benefit directly from tourism while protecting wildlife and natural resources.
Brown warned that targeting this model without fully understanding its structure and purpose risks undermining decades of progress. He also cautioned that such actions could deter investment in rural areas, where tourism ventures already face significant operational and financial challenges.
There are growing concerns that the NaCC’s approach may unfairly prejudice specific conservancies and their private sector partners, while failing to address broader systemic issues within the industry.
The NCE therefore called on the NaCC to reverse its investigation into JV lodges and instead engage with the tourism ministry to develop a more informed and balanced regulatory approach.
It stressed that restoring confidence in Namibia’s tourism sector will require consistent enforcement of competition rules—applied equally across all industries—and a willingness to address entrenched monopolies that could be holding the sector back.
