Namibia’s tourism accommodation sector recorded overall national occupancy of more than 62.5% in July 2026, marking a positive start to the country’s traditional high season and outperforming both last year and pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
According to the latest accommodation occupancy report processed by the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN), based on figures and submissions received from its members to date, national occupancy in July was more than 1% higher than the same month last year and approximately 3% above July 2019.
The results point to continued resilience in Namibia’s tourism sector, with particularly strong growth reported from European source markets.
CEO of HAN, Gitta Paetzold, said that the DACH region – Germany, Austria and Switzerland – continued to perform strongly, while the French, Italian and Benelux markets also recorded growth.
She attributed much of this positive development to consistent and professional destination marketing, as well as close cooperation with airlines.
Paetzold said that the expansion of international air connectivity has also contributed to the positive outlook, with the addition of Edelweiss Air capacity between Zurich and Windhoek, alongside increased schedules from other international airlines.
The strong July performance comes as Namibia enters its busiest period of the tourism calendar, providing an encouraging indication of demand during the peak season.
However, Paetzold cautioned that the positive figures should not lead to complacency, with several factors continuing to pose risks to Namibia’s tourism competitiveness.
Excessive pricing, rising crime and the broader global security situation are increasingly influencing travellers’ decisions, while disruptions relating to security, service delivery, visa delays and fuel availability can have a direct impact on Namibia’s reputation as a safe and easily accessible destination.
For a tourism-dependent economy, maintaining the country’s reputation and ease of access remains critical, particularly as travellers have an increasingly wide range of destinations from which to choose.
Paetzold stressed that Government’s ambitious objective of significantly increasing tourism revenue by 2030 will require close and sustained cooperation between the private sector and all authorities responsible for the travel and tourism environment.
The association said Namibia must collectively work to minimise factors that negatively affect access to the country while ensuring that the destination continues to meet – and exceed – the changing expectations of the highly competitive global travel market.
The July occupancy figures therefore provide a welcome boost for the sector, but also serve as a reminder that maintaining Namibia’s tourism growth will depend not only on attracting visitors, but on ensuring that the entire tourism value chain delivers a safe, reliable, accessible and competitively priced destination.
