Namibia Gets US$70 million Ecotourism Grant
Saturday, 29 Nov, 2009
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First country to get a MCC tourism project could become one of Africa’s Leading Tourism Economies in ten years.
The US-based Millennium Challenge Corporation is providing some US$305m in grant funding to develop education, tourism and agriculture in Namibia. www.namibiatourism.com.na/ The country is the first US-based Millennium Challenge Corporation client that will benefit from a Tourism Project. The tourism which will get nearly US$70m of the funding.
The project aims to develop one of its fastest growing “export” industries with its focus on tourism. Export earnings from international visitors and tourism goods are expected to generate 15.6% of total exports (US$ 650.6 million) in 2008 and are expected to grow in nominal terms to 22.6% (US$2,092.8 million) by 2018.
The Namibian Government says that tourism is an important generator of employment, particularly in rural areas where most tourism occurs. While the tourism industry in Namibia has enjoyed steady growth since independence in 1990, Namibia has lagged behind relative to regional competitors despite its abundance of natural eco-tourism assets and relative political stability.
Compared to South Africa’s 9.2 million international visitors in 2007, Namibia received less than 1 million international visitors in the same year.
The MCC is backing Namibia to become one of Africa’s leading tourism economies over the next decade. The contribution of travel and tourism to GDP is expected to increase from 14.5% (US$1,051.7 million) in 2008 to 20.7% (US$2,967.9 million) by 2018 and from 18.2% (77,000 jobs) to 23.7% (129,000 jobs) of total employment in that same period.
According to the WTTC, growth in the travel and tourism economy is expected to be 5.9% in 2008 and to average 7.7% per annum over the coming 10 years, which ranks the Namibia tourism industry 8th out of 176 countries in growth forecast.
The major focus of the MCC tourism funding is the Etosha National Park. It is felt that the jewel that attracts tourists to Namibia is not fully developed in terms of its tourism potential and faces management challenges relative to competing regional parks.
The MCA Namibia Programme will support three priority activities in the tourism sector:
- Improve management and infrastructure of Etosha National Park
- Enhance the marketing of Namibia tourism;
- Develop the capacity of communal conservancies to attract investments in ecotourism and capture a greater share of the revenue generated by tourism in Namibia.
The target is to generate income and create employment opportunities for some of the less fortunate communities in Namibia, while conserving the natural resources that serve as the foundation of the tourism industry.
The tourism funding will be used for Etosha National Park (US$40.5m), marketing activity (US$8.26m) and conservancy support (US$18.19m).
One of the first contracts to be put out to tender is the US$5m North American portion of the marketing activity for which expressions of interest are currently being sought.
Further information is available at www.mca.gov.na/
Valere Tjolle
Valere
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