Africa-Press – Namibia. THE hospitality and tourism industry has always been one of the biggest contributors to employment in the country.
This was according to Minister of Environment Pohamba Shifeta during an event held at Gondwana’s Etosha King Nehale lodge on Saturday, saying in 2018, 44 700 direct employment including over 2 900 tourism-based jobs created in community conservation areas, which is 9.5% of the total employment in the country.
Shifeta said that the total direct contribution of travel and tourism to Namibia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was N$5.2 billion and N$26 billion indirectly which is about 14.5% of GDP.
“The government has committed to continue to nurture the sector and drive increasingly impactful and collaborative strategies and programs for sustained, inclusive growth into the future,” he said.
Shifeta then reaffirms that public-private cooperation in the area of tourism is an important lever and instrument of economic development.
He explained that the Importance of the relationship between government and business in the tourism industry could never be overemphasized.
“For tourism to thrive, we need to forge a stronger collaboration,” he added.
He indicated that there is a need to work together to ensure that whatever they do in the short term will guarantee the prosperity and growth of the industry in the long term while safeguarding the future of the environment and values that are Namibian.
Hence, Shifeta indicated that Gondwana’s Etosha King Nehale Lodge is an ideal example of maintaining the right balance between industry growth, the livelihood of the people and protecting the unique resources.
Shifeta noted that the lodge is providing a high-quality visitor experience while at the same time being compassionate to the environment, which is one of their key national strategic objectives.
He stresses that the Gondwana Collection Namibia have proven through their developments to have a clear commitment to helping the tourism industry to achieve this objective.
On his part, Ondonga King Fillemon Shuumbwa Nangolo requested the Gondwana Group to consider expanding its frontier to eight other northern traditional authorities with the hope of ensuring development and growing the northern area.
Gondwana’s Etosha King Nehale lodge started operating in 2020 and has so far employed 40 people.
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