Windhoek — The countdown to the 2013 Adventure Travel World (ATW) summit has the tourism industry abuzz and invigorated as it looks to tap into the more than 700 international delegates that would descend on Namibia in six months' time.
Compounding the excitement is the fact that Namibia is the first African country to host the prestigious ATW summit. The local industry wants to use leverage from the summit to expose Namibian cultural attractions and conservancies to the rest of the world. The industry has organised various pre-event activities in the weeks before the summit to gain greater international exposure. These activities will focus on conservancy and cultural experiences throughout the country, taking visiting delegates on an extended adventure through villages, and on rhino tracking excursions, game drives and river cruises, as well as a chance to do some wildlife photography.
The delegates to the summit will have direct interactions with members of various conservancies. For the ecologically minded delegates to the summit the industry has organised pre-adventure activities that include cycling through the country's most iconic landscapes. The Namibian tourism industry mostly wants to attract the attention of international media houses and institutions such as the National Geographic Traveller, Travel and Leisure Magazine, and one of the largest newspapers in the US, USA Today. Inspectors from the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) visited Namibia a year ago to assess the country's potential to host the summit.
During their visit the inspectors toured Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft Park and the Etosha National Park, but what captured their imagination was the country's conservancy movement and the joint venture tourism enterprises that are so critical to development in rural communities. "Namibia offers one of the most compelling success stories in tourism today, one of joint venture tourism and partnerships between communal conservancies and tourism enterprises. It is a story of success that we are proud to share," ATTA President Shannon Stowell, who visited conservancies in the Caprivi and Damaraland, said during his visit.
The Director of Tourism in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Sem Shikongo, stressed that Namibia is the world leader in linking cultures, conservancies and conservation for positive growth and a spirited sense of community involvement and ownership. "The growth and importance of tourism within Namibia's conservancies highlights the fact that tourism is everyone's business," Shikongo said.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Tourism Board, Digu /Naobeb, said the summit brings together global leaders focused on a single overreaching subject - how to make adventure tourism an industry of businesses that are profitable, planet friendly and supportive of local economies.
"With thousands of Namibians affected directly and indirectly by fluctuations in tourism in our country, the exposure we stand to gain from the 2013 ATWS is critical for future growth and development in this vital sector, " he said.
There are currently 79 registered communal conservancies in Namibia, covering over 19.5 percent of the land area of the country and directly benefiting over 250 000 rural Namibians. One in four rural Namibians is a conservancy member.
