Tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta has stated parliament’s anti-homosexual payments aren’t that radical and won’t impression the nation’s vacationer arrivals.
Shifeta was responding to media questions yesterday after he offered the most recent tourism statistics of 2022 within the capital.
“In fact, it is rather a lot a radical change in definition, however I don’t assume it’s going to hurt our sector,” he stated.
The nation’s vacationer arrivals have been growing within the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, with greater than 461 000 touchdown within the nation final yr. This elevated from the 231 756 vacationers who visited Namibia in 2021.
“I don’t assume that from there, there will likely be a serious shift within the tourism arrivals within the nation as a result of if not, no one will likely be harassed, no one even if you’re no matter you might be, and it has by no means occurred earlier than.
“… So, it’s not actually a radical form of shifting from the definition, extra a form of reasonable definition,” Shifeta stated.
Parliament final month handed payments in search of to ban same-sex marriage, the solemnisation of same-sex marriages and to disclaim the popularity thereof.
The payments search to outline the time period ‘partner’, invoking articles 81 and 4 of the Namibian Structure to contradict a choice of the Supreme Court docket of Namibia on same-sex marriage.
In Uganda, developed nations like the USA (US) and the UK (UK) issued journey advisories in opposition to visiting the east African nation.
“Rethink journey to Uganda resulting from crime, terrorism, and anti-lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and different (LGBTQI+) laws. Some areas have elevated threat,” reads the US state division’s journey advisory on their web site.
This has led to a discount of a minimum of 30% of their vacationer arrivals.
Uganda can also be going through funding cuts from the World Financial institution and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Aid (Pepfar) because of the anti-homosexual legal guidelines.
“However I don’t assume that it’ll actually forestall our vacationers from visiting Namibia, as a result of possibly different nations have gone to this point,” Shifeta stated.
He stated Uganda’s legal guidelines are too radical in comparison with the parliament’s payments.
“That’s one invoice, one was extra of measures to stop promotion of some acts.
“You even have some form of capital punishment. One thing that we don’t have is that our regulation doesn’t permit capital punishment,” he stated in regards to the payments.
The payments await the signature of president Hage Geingob to change into legal guidelines.
TOURISM STATS
Travellers from the Southern African Improvement Neighborhood (SADC) topped Namibia’s vacationer listing, with guests from South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and Botswana.
Worldwide guests to Namibia had been primarily from Germany, France, the UK, the USA, Italy and Switzerland.
“The vast majority of guests, representing 53,1% of the overall vacationer arrivals, got here to Namibia between September and December of 2022, 36,1% of the vacationers travelled between Could and August and 10,8% travelled between the months of January and April,” Shifeta stated.
The minister stated the rise of vacationer arrivals are because of the general confidence of vacationers in Vacation spot Namibia, ease of entry to the nation and a reformed visa regime.
“… the provision of extra airline seats to Namibia, aggressive advertising and marketing and promotional campaigns, their presence and participation at worldwide platforms, internet hosting of enterprise conferences, occasions, the rise within the nation’s model consciousness globally, high quality of expertise and providing,” he added.
Supply: namibian
