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Published on : Wednesday, August 26, 2020
On Tuesday, the Namibian government announced that Namibia is set to reopen for foreign tourists starting September 1 and will be working towards reviving thousands of jobs in the tourism sector that has been devastated by the COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Environment Minister Pohamba Shifeta made the official announcement stating that Namibia will reopen the Hosea Kutako International Airport to international tourists starting from 1 September 2020. He mentioned that it is a targeted initiative for leisure travellers that will be reviewed bi-weekly and amended according to necessity.
He also said that all incoming tourists would be required to test negative for coronavirus no more than 72 hours before travelling and have to spend a minimum of seven days at their first destination. It has also been informed that resumption of international tourism ahead of the September to December peak season can save up to 120,000 jobs.
Namibia’s borders were closed back during March as part of early efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Namibians are still banned from travelling between towns but the restriction would now be waived for tourists. Tourism contributes around 10% of the country’s GDP. According to reports, Namibia welcomed around 1.6 million foreign visitors last year, all of which was disrupted due to the pandemic this year.
Tags: Coronavirus, Covid-19, Namibia, Namibian tourism