Namibia’s hospitality sector recorded its strongest August performance in the post-pandemic period, with national room occupancy climbing to 69.53% as peak-season demand pushed accommodation establishments close to capacity.
According to the latest Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) data analysed by Simonis Storm, August 2026 occupancy came within striking distance of the symbolic 70% mark, improving on the 69.5% recorded in August 2025 and standing 2.35 percentage points above the August 2019 pre-pandemic benchmark of 67.18%.
Its report said that the performance was recorded across 93 reporting properties, compared with 121 in August 2025 and 128 in August 2019. Despite the smaller reporting base, per-property occupancy strengthened, pointing to tighter available capacity during one of Namibia’s busiest tourism periods.
National bed occupancy reached 59.50%, virtually unchanged from the 59.52% recorded in August 2019, but below the 61.06% recorded in August 2025.
The Northern Region emerged as the strongest-performing market, recording room occupancy of 76.28%, up 4.90 percentage points from 71.38% in August 2025.
According to the report, the region’s performance was driven by peak safari demand in areas including Etosha National Park and the Kunene corridor, while August’s traditional wedding and family celebration season provided an additional source of domestic demand.
The Coastal Region also posted growth, reaching 71.77% compared with 70.16% a year earlier. The increase of 1.61 percentage points placed the region 1.86 percentage points above its August 2019 benchmark of 69.91%, making it the strongest August on record for the region.
Central Namibia, meanwhile, recorded room occupancy of 54.83%, down from 61.20% in August 2025. However, the report cautions that the decline is largely linked to an unusually strong conference and business travel calendar in August last year.
The report said that combined business and conference travel accounted for only 3.91% of Central beds sold this August, compared with 34.95% in August 2025. Once this base effect is considered, the region’s leisure-driven occupancy remained broadly in line with its 2019 performance.
The Southern Region recorded 64.31%, down from 69.51% in August 2025 and 9.59 percentage points below the August 2019 benchmark of 73.90%.
Unlike Central Namibia, the decline in the south was not attributed to changes in business travel, which remained close to 1% in both years. Softer leisure demand around Sossusvlei and the Fish River Canyon therefore remains an area to monitor, according to the report.
International leisure travel continued to dominate the sector, accounting for 95.17% of all August arrivals, compared with 94.30% in August 2025 and 87.40% in August 2019.
German, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) bloc remained Namibia’s largest source market, accounting for 32.22% of beds sold, followed by Italy at 13.44% and France at 11.05%. Benelux contributed 6.15%, while the USA and Canada accounted for 3.42%.
Together, DACH, Italy, France and Benelux represented 62.86% of beds sold, up from 62.02% in August 2025 and significantly higher than the 51.07% recorded in August 2019.
Italy’s share has increased particularly strongly, rising from 7.71% in August 2019 to 13.44% this year.
Namibian domestic travellers accounted for 13.30% of beds sold, an improvement from 10.99% in August 2025, but still well below the 24.03% recorded in August 2019.
The report said that Namibia’s peak dry-season safari period, when wildlife concentrations around Etosha’s waterholes are highest, supported the strong August performance, which coincided with European summer holidays.
With September marking the transition towards the shoulder season, the report identifies the coming months as an important test of whether the sector can maintain the momentum recorded during Namibia’s strongest August since the pandemic.
