A delegation from the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), led by Chief Executive Officer Sebulon Chiliho Chicalu and including Chief Marketing Officer Charmaine Matthews and China Representative Feng Xinxin, met with officials from the China Tourism Association (CTA). During a forum with CTA Secretary-General Ge Lei and other representatives, the two sides discussed opportunities to strengthen tourism cooperation, focusing on targeted promotion to high-end Chinese travelers, joint marketing initiatives, investment opportunities, and the exchange of best practices in sustainable ecotourism.
Chief Executive Officer, Sebulon Chicalu expressed gratitude to the China Tourism Association for the warm reception. He stated that Namibia is a benchmark global ecotourism destination, home to the world’s oldest Namib Desert, the planet’s largest cheetah and rhino population, and abundant wildlife resources. Tourism accounts for 6.9% of Namibia’s GDP, and international tourists stay an average of 14 to 21 days, far exceeding the average for Africa. Boasting political stability, a peaceful democratic system, inclusive multiculturalism and complete tourism supporting facilities, Namibia enjoys sound foundations for tourism development.
Currently, Namibia is advancing various initiatives toward its vision of becoming the premier top-tier tourist destination in Southern Africa by 2030. Ecological protection provisions have been enshrined in its national constitution, reflecting the country’s commitment to green tourism. He hoped that the China Tourism Association would leverage its platform and resource advantages as a national industrial association to provide robust support in reaching targeted high-end tourist groups, connecting industry channels and facilitating cultural tourism investment projects, so as to attract more high-end Chinese tourists to Namibia and more Chinese cultural tourism enterprises to invest and operate there.
The Chief Marketing Officer Charmaine Matthews elaborated on Namibia’s tourism resources and current marketing performance, and outlined the country’s future development plans covering targeted marketing, product development and brand building.
Combined with current trends in China’s tourism market, Secretary-General Ge Lei shared his insights on tourism cooperation between China and Namibia. He noted that China’s huge tourism market is undergoing a pivotal transformation from conventional sightseeing to cultural, emotional and immersive in-depth travel. High-end Chinese tourists are shifting away from crowded, homogenized sightseeing itineraries in favor of streamlined, nature-integrated unique in-depth travel offerings.
Namibia’s signature immersive travel experience featuring privacy, vast open spaces and minimal human disturbance, paired with distinctive adventure activities including sandboarding and skydiving, aligns perfectly with the demands of high-end Chinese travelers. He stated that the China Tourism Association will coordinate with municipal tourism associations nationwide to accurately target high-end Chinese tourists matching Namibia’s tourism positioning, liaise with major domestic cultural tourism groups and mainstream content platforms, and support Namibia’s targeted marketing campaigns in China. Meanwhile, the two parties will exchange and share experience in formulating industrial standards, digital operation and hosting large-scale cultural tourism events.
The two sides reached consensus on negotiating the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), arranging inspection tours to Africa, Namibia and precisely matching promotional resources. The China Tourism Association will organize an official African delegation in the first half of 2027 to conduct special cultural tourism cooperation docking activities in Namibia. Both parties will formally sign a cultural tourism cooperation MOU at an appropriate time to establish a long-term cooperation mechanism.
