The northern region recorded the strongest tourism performance in May, with occupancy rates rising to 58.36%.
The increase was supported by a cluster of public holidays that encouraged domestic travel, and the region’s proximity to Etosha National Park and Damaraland, which remain key tourist attractions.
“The northern region posted the strongest improvement, with occupancy reaching 58.36%. This increase was likely driven by a series of public holidays during May that spurred domestic travel,” said Simonis Storm Junior Economist Almandro Jansen.
Southern Namibia followed with a modest improvement, where occupancy grew from 53.65% in April to 55.73% in May.
Simonis Storm noted that the demand in the region was supported by popular natural sites such as Sossusvlei and increasing business travel to Lüderitz amid rising economic activity.
Meanwhile, performance in other regions showed signs of decline. The central region recorded the lowest occupancy rate at 37.52%, a significant drop from 44.41% the previous month.
This was likely due to a slowdown in corporate and event-driven travel. Coastal occupancy also dipped to 54.43% from 60.79% in April, despite the region continuing to draw both leisure and business visitors.
“National occupancy rates declined marginally by 0.04 percentage points month-on-month, easing from 54.94% in April to 54.90% in May. On an annual basis, however, the sector experienced a more notable slowdown, with occupancy rates falling by 5.44 percentage points from 60.34% recorded in May 2024,” said Jansen.
He also said that the start of the colder months and the 2025 tourism peak season has been slower than usual, but the industry expects momentum to pick up in the lead-up to August and September.
Despite the annual drop, occupancy levels remain above pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
Business travel made up 2.63%, mainly along the coast, marking a one percentage point decrease from April. Conference-related travel stayed low at 0.56%.
“In terms of visitor composition, leisure travel remained the dominant segment, accounting for 96.80% of all guests in May,” Jansen said.
Looking ahead, the industry expects a rise in business and conference travel, driven by growing foreign investor interest in Namibia’s green hydrogen pilot programmes and mineral exploration projects.
“Key events, such as the Commonwealth Summit 2025 and the Youth in Oil & Gas Summit, are expected to bolster conference tourism,” Jansen noted.
International visitors from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland made up the largest share at 31.19% of arrivals in May, though this declined from 40.29% in April.
Domestic travellers increased slightly, accounting for 19.67% of total occupancy.
