I am pleased to present to you the 5th edition of the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA). TSA is an accounting framework and economic statistical tool to quantify the contribution of travel and tourism to the economy and the creation of jobs. It provides information for the understanding and monitoring of the impact of tourism on the Namibian economy over a period of time. It also helps to assess policies that govern future industry development and provide knowledge to help guide successful and sustainable travel and tourism investment decisions.

This report was prepared using the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) model and approach. It includes figures for the period starting 2009 to 2015, preliminary estimates for 2016 and forecast values for 2017. The calculations reflect the recent migration of Namibia’s Balance of Payments (BOP) statistics to the latest International Monetary Fund compilation manual, which introduced a number of changes to the Service Account data used in the TSA dating back to 2009.

In 2015, the travel and tourism demand represented a 9.3 percent increase from 2014 in terms of real growth, however, the estimated real growth in travel & tourism demand is anticipated to have dropped by 10.6 percent in 2016.

I therefore urge all tourism stakeholders and partners to uphold commitment towards making the tourism sector prosperous by supporting developmental policies and interventions, strengthening collaborations between stakeholders as well as investing in the sector in order to sustain the growth of the tourism sector.

I Let us all work together for our collective and individual futures in a coordinated, synergised and focused manner. Tourism is everybody’s business

Finally, I would like to recognize the efforts of various stakeholders who assisted in providing information used in making the production of this 5th edition a success!