Estimating the tourism potential in Namibia

This paper investigates the determinants of tourism in Namibia for the period 1996 to 2012. The results indicate that an increase in trading partners’ income, depreciation of the exchange rate, improvement in Namibia’s infrastructure, sharing a border with Namibia are associated with an increase in tourist arrivals. Governance indicators such as rule of law, political stability and no violence are also associated with an increase in tourist arrivals to Namibia. The results show that there is unexploited tourism potential from Angola, Austria, Botswana, Germany and South Africa. This suggests that it is important to exploit the tourism potential as this would help to accelerate economic growth and generate the much needed employment.