Strand Hotel Swakopmund officially opens
October 9, 2015
Cleaning up the Fish River Canyon
October 13, 2015
Compiled Sanet van Zijl
Namibia has been chosen as the vice president of the general assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Medellin, Colombia.
The deputy minister of environment and tourism, Mr Tommy Nambahu, represented Namibia at the 21st general assembly of the UNWTO from 12-17 September. The meeting was attended by more than 900 representatives – including more than 70 ministers from 120 countries.
Colombia, which was represented by its minister of trade, Cecilia Alvarez-Correa, was elected as the president in conjunction with the Bahamas, Malaysia, Saudi-Arabia, Bangladesh, Spain and Uganda.
Namibia was elected along with Tunisia, as the only African countries, as members of the UNWTO’s committee of tourism and competitiveness. This places Namibia at the forefront of decision making regarding tourism development in the world. It also gives the country the chance to place our tourism industry in the main stream internationally.
Namibia is currently in the final phase of developing its tourism growth strategy, which means that the election has come at the perfect time.
Namibia is also the only African country which has been invited as a guest of honor to the Colmar International Tourism and Travel Show in France. Namibia is the very first African country to receive this honor.
As a country, Namibia should be proud of the platform it has been given to promote tourism. Colmar is situated in an area with a population of 9 million and the show is attended by an average of more than 31 135 people and 400 exhibitors. The show should mean great international exposure for Namibia and broadening of Namibia’s tourism potential.
