Tented safari camps and lodges outperformed other accommodation establishments in Namibia during August 2026, recording room occupancy rates of 79% and 70%, respectively, as the country’s hospitality sector registered improved performance.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency’s (NSA) August 2026 Rooms and Beds Occupancy report, tented camps recorded an increase in occupancy from 66% in July to 79% in August, while lodges improved from 60.9% to 70% over the same period.
Hotels also recorded improved performance, with room occupancy increasing to 67.6% from 61.4% in July.
The increase in occupancy across these accommodation categories contributed to an improvement in the national room occupancy rate, which rose to 69.5% in August from 62.6% in July.
The NSA reported that 53,538 rooms were occupied out of 76,997 available rooms nationwide during August, compared with 40,086 occupied rooms out of 64,003 available rooms in July.
“This was an improvement from July, when 40,086 of the 64,003 available rooms were occupied, representing an occupancy rate of 62.6%,” the agency said.
The national Rooms Occupancy Rate Index increased by 11% month-on-month, compared with growth of 7% recorded in July.
On an annual basis, the index increased by 2.9% in August, compared with 7.2% growth recorded during the corresponding month in 2025.
However, guest farms and guest houses recorded declining occupancy rates during the month.
Guest farm occupancy fell from 61.9% in July to 53.7% in August, while guest houses recorded a decline from 63.6% to 52.5%.
Regionally, northern Namibia recorded the strongest month-on-month growth in room occupancy at 14.8%, followed by the coastal region at 9.9%.
The central region registered growth of 7.5%, while the southern region recorded an increase of 6.7%.
In the northern region, 24,145 rooms were occupied out of 31,651 available rooms during August, compared with 15,971 occupied rooms out of 24,043 available rooms in July.
The southern region recorded 15,625 occupied rooms out of 24,297 available rooms, leaving 8,672 rooms unoccupied, the highest number among the four regions.
Meanwhile, the national Bed Occupancy Rate Index increased by 6.6% month-on-month in August, following a 34.3% increase in July.
Despite the monthly improvement, the index declined by 1.8% year-on-year, compared with a 0.3% contraction recorded in August 2025.
The NSA reported that 102,749 beds were occupied out of 172,680 available beds nationwide during August.
The figures indicate stronger occupancy performance in tented camps, lodges and hotels, while guest farms and guest houses experienced lower room occupancy rates during the review period.
