Executive summary
- International arrivals for August 2021 declined to 5 113 from 45 835 recorded for August 2019 pre-covid-19
- The decline in the number of arrivals was a result of travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19
- On a 12 month cumulative basis between August 2019 to August 2020, Namibia recorded a total of 277 971 arrivals compared to 53 073 recorded for the period of August 2020 to August 2021. See figure 1
Analysis
- On an annual basis, the number of arrivals for Namibia declined from -9.03% for August 2019 to -98.60% for August 2020 as a consequence of a ban on international travels
- In actual numbers international arrivals increased to 5 113 for August 2021 from 1109 recorded for August 2020. This came as a result of the ease of Covid-19 restrictions and the global vaccination rollouts. See figure 2
- The adoption of digital health solutions for safe travel has also led to improvements in the international arrivals
Figure 1: Hosea Kutako International Monthly Arrivals
Figure 2: Hosea Kutako International Airport Arrivals Year on Year % changes
Outlook
The effectiveness of the aggressive vaccine rollout, and the lifting of Covid-19 travel restrictions will lead to a further increase in the number of international arrivals for Namibia in the short to medium term. This will improve the outlook for travel retail and tourism for the Namibian economy.