Page 25 - Destination Risk and Resilience Manual-Namibia

DESTINATION RISK AND RESILIENCE MANUAL

and rhetoric which may be construed negatively by emergence of the sex trade in the tourism industry.
the international community if not well-managed and This poses a safety risk to both the tourists and the
hence impact negatively on the destination image. locals and ought to be interrogated and stemmed.
This has the potential to reduce the number of tourists
visiting the country.
3.1.8 Technical risks

3.1.6 Economic risks Infrastructure is critical to the success of the tourism
industry. This infrastructure is inclusive of airports,
Economic threats revolve around issues of exchange roads and rail, accommodation, car rentals and internet
rates against major currencies, foreign investment infrastructure. It is such infrastructure that determines
risk as determined by international rating agencies the competitiveness of the tourism destination. Namib-
(e.g. Fitch, Standard and Poor Global, Moodys), and ia has a relatively well-developed tourism infrastruc-
refinancing risk. Because the Namibia dollar is tied to ture system (Asa et al., 2022) consisting of good roads,
the South African rand, some of the economic risks airports, and accommodation facilities in or nearer to
that the country faces are imported risks. In March most of its tourist attraction areas. Despite this good in-
2020, for example, Moodys downgraded South Af- frastructure, there are still areas that need improvement
rica’s sovereign credit rating to junk status, citing a in terms of accessibility and upgrading the standard
deterioration in the country’s fiscal strength and weak of the infrastructure. Kalvelage, Diez and Bollig (2021)
economic growth. The intricate link of the Namibian point out that some of the country’s roads, especially
to the South African economy is thus bound to make in the Zambezi Region are less accessible and need
it susceptible. On its own, the ratings have not been upgrading or improvement, especially given that the
consistent. In July 2021, for example, Fitch’s ratings region forms a core element of the Kavango-Zambezi
affirmed Namibia’s long-term foreign currency default Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA).
rating at BB with a negative outlook, arguing that the
rating was a result of the country’s declining credit- Study participants (20%) also pointed out that bad road
worthiness due to a rise in government debt and low networks were a challenge to the tourism industry
economic growth (The Economist, July 2021). Uncer- in the Erongo Region (Table 2). Inadequate transport
tainties regarding the pace of economic growth, rising infrastructure, therefore, reduces the attractiveness of
unemployment and the lack of agreement regarding a the tourist destination. In addition to challenges re-
social contract between the government and labour in lated to transport infrastructure, some of the facilities
the country also poses a risk to the tourism industry. in the tourism destinations in the country need to be
The continued economic challenges in the country upgraded and continuously maintained especially in
thus pose a grave risk to the tourism industry. large attractions such as Etosha. A further 10% of the
study participants indicated infrastructural deficien-
cies as a major hazard, especially in relation to the pro-
3.1.7 Societal risks cessing of tourists at the country’s entry points – be it
the land borders of the airports where significant de-
Tourists are extremely sensitive to perceptions. As a lays are experienced. Such delays are likely to create a
result, some of their decisions are based on issue-re- negative perception of the ease of travel and thus neg-
lated perceptions of crime and safety. Namibia is atively influence the destination image and a decline
relatively a safe country in terms of tourism and in- in the number of tourists visiting the country.
cidences of robberies or muggings of tourists are few.
Approximately 15% of the study participants identified Study participants also raised the issue of cell phone
theft from tourists as a major challenge to tourism, network coverage, alluding to the fact that there is
especially in the Erongo Region (Table 2). However, no widespread coverage in some of the tourist des-
there is a need to deal with issues of perceived corrup- tinations, especially in the Erongo Region. This, they
tion especially when government departments deal argued, is likely to discourage tourists from visiting the
with tourists as well as increasing the visibility of the area. In cases where one encounters a challenge, for
police in areas visited by tourists. In addition, the level example, a tire burst or a mechanical challenge with
of customer care ought to be dealt with, improving in their vehicle, the absence of cell phone coverage can
order to satisfy the tourist expectations of what excel- place one in a position of helplessness or danger. Inad-
lent service entails. While the challenges have not been equate cell phone network coverage is hence a risk to
well-documented, anecdotal information points to the the industry.

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