Namibian Tourism Research Articles

How the Media Constructs Namibian Tourism as Escapism for Global Traveler in Post-Pandemic Era

The Namibian tourism industry is gradually recovering from the pandemic's impact following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. One of the things that is suspected to be a tourism booster is media information. This paper discussesthe construction of Namibian tourism in the Post-Pandemic Era by the media of the Namibia. This research selected the data sample from a website titled “Namibia Endless Horizons” which can be accessed through the official website address visitnambia.com.ina and used Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The result of the analysis, the media does not just convey information but at the same time constructs reality. The reality in this case is tourism in Namibia and the tagline that represents Namibia's image and identity to tourists. Although it is unavoidable that the identity and image of Africa through Liberating, Soul, Rugged, and Natural is to change the stigma that has always been associated with the continent. Namibia's "vastness", on the other hand, offers to unravel the saturation caused by stagnation caused by global pandemics in the last two years or so. Namibia is an escapism for global travelers.

The Bushman Brand in Southern African Tourism : An Indigenous Modernity in a Neoliberal Political Economy

Many scholars have explained that the primordial image of Bushmen, in which they are represented as the ‘authentic’ indigenous people of nature, is a significant construct that contributes to their contemporary marginalised status. This image continues in the post-independence and post-apartheid contexts of South African and Namibian tourism. In this industry, the Bushman image tends to be fortified in the context of a broader neoliberal political economy. This fortification has consequently created a setting in which images are commodified more than ever before, although this is of course the result of a longer historical process. This chapter explores how the image of the Bushmen has changed throughout history, where it stands today in tourism, and what the consequences of this are. The Bushman image is demonstrated to have become a brand, the ‘Bushman brand’, suited mostly to Western ideas about who these people are. Today, Bushmen show a strong dependence upon market forces if they wish to work in tourism, where they are compelled to invent and reinvent their traditions based on tourists’ expectations. This process creates an uncomfortable contradiction for those working in or supporting tourism: using the Bushman brand to adapt to the demands of tourism simultaneously makes this a product, which is generally considered ‘inauthentic’. However, although at first this might sound like an exploitative situation in which the Bushmen are victims of more powerful forces in the market, the author argues that in some cases the Bushman brand can provide for their agency, to be used strategically as a so-called indigenous modernity, in which ‘modern’ phenomena, e.g. the Bushman brand, are used to reassert and even fortify their identity as the authentic indigenous people.

Political economy of the Namibian tourism sector: addressing post-apartheid inequality through increasing indigenous ownership

Tourism is regarded as one of Namibia's key economic sectors that can diversify the economy and create employment, but due to the apartheid legacy the sector is highly dominated by the white minority. Current efforts to increase the share of indigenous ownership include Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Community-Based Tourism (CBT). This article analyses the challenges involved in promoting BEE and CBT through research material gathered in 16 Namibian tourism enterprises. The challenges are related to the prevailing inequality and racial prejudices in Namibia, and to the nature of tourism as an economic sector that requires special skills and experience.

The role of local policy knowledge in the implementation of Namibian tourism policy

The paper introduces a concept of local policy knowledge which is argued to complement the conventional policy knowledge in the Namibian tourism policy process. Local policy knowledge refers to the qualitative material gathered from 16 Namibian tourism enterprises. The perceptions and experiences of the representatives of these enterprises regarding two policy goals, namely poverty reduction and black economic empowerment, are analysed in order to illustrate the challenges involved in policy implementation. The paper concludes that local policy knowledge can be applied beyond the Namibian context and even in other policy related research.

The Tourism Global Commodity Chain in Namibia: Industry Concentration and its Impacts on Transformation

Applying Global Commodity Chain (GCC) theory, this article uncovers governance patterns in the Namibian tourism industry. The sector, it is argued, is best characterized as a buyer-driven GCC, in which large tour operators and accommodation groups control most economic transactions, and in which local actors remain generic suppliers with limited power to capture a significant share of the value. In a context of rapid globalization and fierce competition, horizontal and vertical integration have further concentrated economic powers in the hands of larger groups (national or international). With such an ownership structure, previously disadvantaged Namibians lack economic leverage to be fully involved in the largely white-dominated tourism sector.

Tourism, Indigenous People, and the Challenge of Development: The Representations of Ovahimbas in Tourism Promotion and Community Perceptions Toward Tourism

In Namibia the tourism industry is increasingly used as a medium for economic and social development goals in the country. By involving local communities the benefits of tourism are expected to trickle down to a local level where the tourist activities actually take place. These challenges highlight the need to discuss the nature of tourism and community relations and perceptions. First, the article overviews the role and representations of local people, namely Ovahimbas (or Himbas), in Namibian tourism promotion. Secondly, the article aims to analyze how the role of tourism is seen by the local Ovahimba communities in north western Namibia. The former overview is based on the contemporary tourism brochures while the latter is studied by using community interviews. Based on the tourism promotion, the representations of Ovahimbas are dominated by female depictions referring to historically constructed primitive, exotic, and erotic objects for Western tourists to explore. The Ovahimbas are trapped to play an unchanged static culture referring to a past in order to satisfy the expectations of nonlocal visitors. According to the interviews the local practices of tourism were seen as highly beneficial, however, and tourism-related developments were perceived positively. On the other hand, the position that local people placed themselves in tourism was referring to the same passive role also represented in the tourism brochures. It is evident that tourism development has not yet contributed sufficiently to community empowerment, participation, and control over tourism activities, for example, which are named as strategic aims in the national tourism plans and community-based policy goals in Namibia.

Community Based Tourism in Namibia: ‘Reality Show’ or ‘Window Dressing’?

Since the 1970s, the African continent has experienced exponential growth in tourism, where growth in numbers of visitors has not necessarily meant economic, social or environmental benefits for the host community. A review of the literature concerning tourism development and its effects on local communities forms the basis for the investigation of the reasons behind community based tourism (CBT) being identified as a tool for development in Namibia. An assessment of the planning and implementation phases of the CBT strategy enables consideration on the role played by international and national governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in laying down policies and providing proactive support for CBT related projects. This paper presents the results of an ongoing empirical research conducted since 2003 in the Kunene region of Namibia, which is an important part of the overall Namibian tourism destination, with world-renowned resources such as Etosha National Park, the Himba culture, Epupa Falls, the desert-adapted elephant and the rhino, to name just a few. By attempting an overall assessment of the Namibian current CBT situation, a set of considerations are offered with regard to its practicalities and in terms of benefits, problems and future outlooks for this sector.

Building new WDM regulations for the Namibian tourism sector on factors influencing current water-management practices at the enterprise level

Namibia’s aridity is forcing its water sector to resort to new water resource management approaches, including water demand management (WDM). Such a change in management approach is facilitated through the country’s opportunity at independence to rewrite and adapt its old policies, including those for water and tourism. Legal support for WDM through the Water Act and other sector-specific Acts is crucial to plan the practical implementation of WDM throughout the different water use sectors of Namibia. In order to be able to put the policy into practice, it is imperative to understand which factors motivate people to adopt WDM initiatives. Within the Namibian tourism industry three main factors have been identified which influence the water-management approaches at tourist facilities. This paper discusses how the water and tourism decision makers can consider these factors when developing new regulations to introduce WDM in the tourism sector.

Spatial Patterns and Problems in Contemporary Namibian Tourism

The emerging and rapidly expanding Namibian tourism sector has been influenced by core-periphery relationships at both the regional (i.e. South African dominated) and local (Namibian white elite) scale. Namibian tourism space accordingly consists of: an inner core incorporating the capital and primate city of Windhoek; an outer core, which corresponds to the White-controlled commercial lands and contains most of the formal economy and accommodations beyond Windhoek; a state-controlled periphery of nature reserves, which are important attractions for ecotourists; and a communal periphery which harbours a large proportion of the Black population, but almost no tourism services or activity. Even as Namibia moves increasingly toward a non-consumptive wildlife-based tourism sector, government policies of 'national reconciliation', an open investment climate and privatization ensure continued control by the local and international (mainly South African) core, and thus the spatial dichotomy between the commercial core and the communal periphery is perpetuated. Such a situation could eventually lead to widespread unrest among poor Blacks, which would threaten the viability of the tourism sector.