Namibia is losing strategic hospitality and tourism workers to opportunities overseas, negatively weighing on the sector’s recovery, a new report has revealed.
According to the report, despite promising signs of recovery in the country’s tourism industry the severe shortage of experienced managers is posing a potential hurdle to fully capitalise on the increasing demand from tourists.
According to the Simonis Storm hospitality statistics report, the shortage of experienced managers is impacting not only the operations of existing hospitality establishments but also hindering the training and development of new talent.
“After engaging various industry players, we understand that a significant number of hotel/lodge managers left Namibia to pursue job opportunities overseas,” said the firm’s researcher Angelique Bock.
She added that many tourism graduates cannot find jobs due to a lack of working experience and local hospitality establishments struggle to find adequate experts to train them.
“The shortage of experienced managers is impacting not only the operations of existing hospitality establishments but also hindering the training and development of new talent. With limited experts to mentor and guide them, recent tourism graduates face challenges in finding suitable job opportunities, perpetuating the cycle of high youth unemployment in the country,” said Bock.
In an attempt to mitigate this, she said through the partnerships with Africa Tourism Partners, BDO and United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), graduates will be exposed to practical training with the purpose to close gaps in the tourism sector and to continue the legacy of the tourism industry in Namibia.
“The director announced that a Tourism Information Management System, to digitalize the system, will be implemented to provide for transparency in the industry. These planned improvements will increase the employability of our graduates, attempting to dent our high youth unemployment,” she explained.
These planned improvements are set to increase the employability of graduates, attempting to dent Namibia’s high youth unemployment rate, she said, further highlighting the government’s commitment to nurturing a skilled workforce in the tourism sector.
This comes as the tourism sector shows encouraging signs of recovery, with business activity in the restaurant and hotels sector reaching approximately 86% of pre-pandemic levels, the staff shortage issue remains a critical concern that requires immediate attention.
Bock noted that while the industry has made significant strides in bouncing back, the wider value chain of tourism, including hunting guides, tour operators, travel agencies, and lodges, plays a crucial role in the sector’s success.
However, their contribution is not fully captured in the GDP figures, indicating potential even better performance than reported.
“While the sector posted a 5.7% annual expansion in 1Q2023, it declined by 10.7% q/q in 1Q2023,” Simonis Storm said.
Occupancy rates have also shown positive trends, increasing by 0.4% month-over-month in June 2023, reaching 51.2%.
On an annual basis, occupancy rates have improved significantly by 19.14 percentage points compared to the previous year, reflecting a strong recovery trajectory.
“However, we believe that the wider value chain of tourism is not fully captured in the hotels and restaurant sector, given that most professional hunting guides, air charters, tour operators, travel agencies, car rentals, and lodges across the country are not captured in these GDP figures,” the report noted.
