CHAMWE KAIRA
Namibia’s hospitality sector recorded its strongest August in the post-pandemic period in August 2026, with national room occupancy reaching 69.53%, according to the latest data from the Hospitality Association of Namibia.
The August occupancy rate was 0.48 percentage points above the 69.05% recorded in August 2025 and 2.35 percentage points higher than the 67.18% recorded in August 2019, the pre-pandemic benchmark.
The performance was recorded across 93 reporting properties, compared with 121 properties in August 2025 and 128 in August 2019.
Total beds sold stood at 102 749 in August 2026, compared with 126 216 in August 2025. Despite the smaller reporting base, occupancy per property increased.
National bed occupancy was 59.50%, broadly unchanged from the August 2019 level of 59.52%, but below the 61.06% recorded in August 2025.
The Northern Region recorded the highest occupancy at 76.28%, up from 71.38% in August 2025. The 4.90 percentage-point increase was attributed to peak safari demand and the region’s traditional August wedding season. However, the August 2026 figure remained below the 77.84% recorded in August 2019.
The Coastal Region recorded occupancy of 71.77%, up from 70.16% in August 2025 and above the 69.91% recorded in August 2019. It was the region’s strongest August on record.
The Central Region recorded 54.83%, down from 61.20% in August 2025, but slightly above the 54.21% recorded in August 2019.
The data showed that business and conference travel accounted for 3.91% of Central beds sold in August 2026, compared with 34.95% in August 2025. The significant difference indicates that the previous year had a substantially larger corporate or government event calendar.
The Southern Region recorded occupancy of 64.31%, down from 69.51% in August 2025 and 9.59 percentage points below the 73.90% recorded in August 2019.
Unlike the Central Region, business travel accounted for about 1% of beds sold in both periods in the Southern Region. The figures therefore point to weaker leisure demand compared with previous peak seasons.
Two of the four regions recorded year-on-year increases in occupancy in August 2026. The Northern Region recorded the largest increase, while the Coastal Region reached its highest August occupancy on record.
The Central and Southern regions recorded declines, although the Central figure was affected by the much stronger business and conference travel recorded in August 2025.
