CHAMWE KAIRA
Namibia’s hospitality sector posted its strongest May performance on record, with national occupancy reaching 62.17% in May 2026, up sharply from 56.21% in May 2025 and comfortably above the pre-pandemic May 2019 benchmark of 55.83% according to HAN.
“The result is particularly noteworthy given that May 2026 fell entirely within the shoulder season, suggesting that structural demand drivers including the onset of safari and nature-based tourism ahead of the winter dry season are gaining momentum earlier than historically observed,” Simonis Storm said in a report.
The Northern region delivered the highest occupancy nationally at 65.19%, up from 58.74% in May 2025, confirming that Etosha National Park and the broader Kunene corridor are attracting early-season visitors as the dry season approaches.
Wildlife sightings at waterholes improve materially from May onwards, and the region appears to be capitalising on this seasonal pull earlier.
The coastal region recorded 63.85% occupancy, ahead of its 59.54% May 2025 reading.
The Walvis Bay and Swakopmund corridor continues to benefit from dual demand including European leisure visitors transiting between the coast and the interior, and ongoing business travel linked to oil and gas activity.
The central region improved to 62.94% from 50.23% in May 2025, a notable year-on year gain for Windhoek.
Conference and government-related travel appear to have been supplemented by increased corporate and transit demand in May.
The southern region posted the lowest regional occupancy at 58.86%, though this still represents an improvement over the 53.82% recorded in May 2025.
Sossusvlei and the Fish River Canyon remain the primary demand anchors, with Lüderitz attracting incremental business interest.
Leisure travel dominated at 97.69% of all arrivals up from 95.48% in May 2025 with conference travel falling to zero and business travel easing to 2.31%.
The DACH bloc (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland) remained the largest source market at 37.57% of beds sold, while French visitors contributed 9.41%.
Total beds sold nationally stood at 58 456 in May 2026 versus 91 088 in May 2025, reflecting a smaller participant base of 60 properties versus 117.
The May 2026 data underscore a meaningful shift in Namibia’s source market composition.
The DACH bloc (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland) strengthened to 37.57% of all beds sold, up from 34.02% in May 2025, reversing the softening trend observed in early 2026.
French visitors remained the second-largest European source at 9.41%, marginally below the 10.42% recorded in May 2025. The Benelux corridor expanded to 5.56% from 4.34%, while UK and Irish arrivals edged to 3.20% from 3.76%.
USA and Canadian visitors contributed 4.59%, easing from 6.30% in May 2025, consistent with broader caution around long-haul expenditure in the North American market.
Asian arrivals (excluding China) stood at 1.50%, with Chinese visitors accounting for 2.25%.
Namibian domestic travellers accounted for 17.97% of beds sold, broadly unchanged from 18.00% in May 2025, but approximately 8 percentage points below 2019 levels.
