CHAMWE KAIRA
The hospitality sector had a strong performance in June with national room occupancy reaching 58.54% surpassing the 2019 pre-pandemic benchmark of 51.2% by 7.3 percentage points and well above the 47.8% recorded in June 2025 according to the latest data from Hospitality Association of Namibia.
June marks the first full month of the prime safari window, as game concentrations peak around Etosha’s waterholes and European travellers converge on southern Africa during their summer holidays.
“The result confirms that structural demand from international leisure visitors continues to deepen, building on second quarter (Q2) 2026’s record quarterly performance of 57.14% national occupancy itself more than 3 percentage points above Q2 2019 levels,” Simonis Storm said.
The second quarter of 2026 delivered the strongest Q2 on record for Namibia’s formal accommodation sector.
National room occupancy reached 57.14% across 135 reporting properties, a 4.67 percentage point improvement on the 52.47% recorded in Q2 2025, and more than 3 percentage points above the Q2 2019 pre-pandemic baseline.
Total bed-nights sold reached 229 336. This performance validates the view that Namibia’s accommodation sector has achieved a genuine structural recovery, not merely a cyclical rebound from COVID-era lows.
The northern region delivered the strongest occupancy at 70.35%, well above the Q2 2026 average of 61.03%, as Etosha National Park and the Kunene corridor entered their highest-demand window, the most compelling regional reading of 2026.
The coastal region recorded 55.99%, with the Walvis Bay–Swakopmund corridor maintaining dual demand from European leisure visitors and oil-and-gas business travellers.
Business travel accounted for 4.58% of coastal beds sold, the second-highest proportion nationally.
The central region recorded 45.34%, slightly below its Q2 2026 average of 50.87%, consistent with a seasonal mid-year dip in government and corporate travel. Business travel remained elevated at 16.30% of central beds, the highest regional proportion nationally.
The southern region posted 46.21%, with Sossusvlei and the Fish River Canyon providing the core leisure demand anchors.
“The south’s distance from major air hubs continues to moderate its share of total arrivals,” the report noted.
All four regions posted year-on-year gains. The northern Region led with 61.03% (Q2 2025: 53.54%), a gain of 7.49 percentage points, the strongest regional improvement of the quarter.
The coastal region held at 61.56% (Q2 2025: 59.38%), with dual leisure and business demand providing resilience. The central region improved to 50.87% (Q2 2025: 46.39%), reflecting stronger corporate and government linked demand in Windhoek. The southern region gained modestly to 52.33% from 50.94%.
Leisure travel dominated at 96.77% of all June 2026 arrivals. European travellers accounted for over 47% of all beds sold in Q2 2026 up from 45% in Q2 2025 and just 37% in 2019 reflecting a sustained structural shift in Namibia’s visitor profile that is not captured in official arrival statistics.
Total beds sold nationally stood at 65 945 across 108 properties. The DACH bloc remained the largest source market at 33.47% of beds sold, with France at 7.33%, Italy at 4.86%, Benelux at 4.94%, UK & Ireland at 4.39%, and USA & Canada at 6.91%.
European travellers accounted for over 47% of all beds sold in Q2 2026 up from 45% in Q2 2025 and just 37% in 2019. This 10-percentage-point gain over seven years reflects a fundamental repositioning of Namibia in the European leisure travel consciousness, driven by air access improvements and the growing appeal of Namibia’s wilderness product relative to more saturated safari destinations.
