Namibia

The destination “Erongo region”

The Erongo Region in the western part of Namibia is one of the country’s key tourism destinations and contributes significantly to foreign currency generation, employment, infrastructural development and to local residents’ livelihoods. Named after the famous Erongo mountain range, the area is known for its beautiful landscape and historical architecture including natural characteristics such as mountains, dunes and beaches on the Atlantic Ocean coastline.

The project process in the Erongo region

During the project implementation, key risks for tourism in the Erongo Region were identified. These include sudden shock events and slow-onset stressors. The potential negative impacts of these risks include adverse consequences for human lives, the economy, the environment, destination image, or community well-being.

 

Different options for action to tackle key risks for tourism in the Erongo region were identified.

 

In order to increase long term resilience of tourism destinations in Namibia, there is a need to raise awareness for risks through training and capacity enhancement of local tourism stakeholders on sustainability and resilience. Following the identification of training needs in the workshops, the local project team designed a two-day training program. Among others, a session on climate change awareness was held in which participants discussed sustainable water consumption, recycling and water harvesting for tourism stakeholders.

Defining the destination in Namibia – Good Practice for Step 1

The research team from Namibia started the analysis by clearly defining the unit of analysis. In this case, the Erongo Region surrounding the city of Swakopmund was chosen as the scale of analysis. After clearly defining the region, the research team specified the local context, compiled an overview of tourism actors, identified relevant source markets and visitor profiles. Moreover, they compiled the destination inventory with all its key attractions and assets. Lastly, the governance structure of the destination was mapped out.

Identifying sources of risks to tourism – Good Practice for Step 2

During the project implementation, key risks for tourism in the Erongo Region were identified. These include sudden shock events and slow-onset stressors. The potential negative impacts of these risks include adverse consequences for human lives, the economy, the environment, destination image, or community well-being. Below, the key risks in the Erongo region as well as underlying risk drivers which  were identified during the participatory workshops, interviews and surveys are summarized.

Expert workshop in Windhoek, Namibia – Good Practice for Step 3

For this step, the research team from the University of Namibia conducted a participatory workshop with participants from various institutions that have a stake in the tourism industry in Namibia: educational institutions, tourism associations, government, parastatals, NGOs and tourism businesses. The aim of the workshop was to identify the tourism destination’s risk priorities, risk drivers and the options for action to address the risks.

 

First, the workshop participants were able to take part in a gallery walk which gave them a picture of the status of tourism from a global and local perspective. The idea behind the gallery walk was to stimulate dialogue around tourism before the presentation by the University of Namibia. Among others, the gallery walk covered topics such as global tourism trends, visitor numbers and different hazards. Rather than having a presentation, the gallery walk allowed for extended interaction between the participants and the team as well as between participants themselves.

 

After a further introduction, breakout sessions were organised for a discussion on key risks, risk drivers and priorities for action. For this, the World Café method, which makes use of an informal cafe setting for participants to explore an issue by discussing it in small table groups was used. Discussions were held in two rounds of 30 minutes each. The cafe atmosphere was intended to allow for more relaxed and open discussions. Three major points of engagement during the discussions were:

a) Mapping the risk priorities in the tourism industry by starting to define the meaning of risk;

b) Identifying drivers of these risks and

c) Suggesting potential options for action.

 

After the breakouts were concluded, the different groups were given an opportunity in the plenary to provide feedback on the discussions. They discussed identified risk priorities, underlying drivers of risk and options for action. An example for a risk chain from the workshop can be found in this figure:

Presenting findings from the analysis in Swakopmund, Namibia – Good Practice for Step 5

As part of this step, the University of Namibia conducted a participatory workshop with 25 participants from various stakeholder institutions such as tourism associations, government and tourism businesses. The aim of the workshop was to identify enablers and barriers, develop a longterm resilience strategy and to identify training needs.

 

An interactive method for introducing the participants was chosen as an opening activity to create an atmosphere conducive to the following discussion. A presentation and a gallery walk showcased the previous project steps. In this session, workshop participants were introduced to various key issues in tourism through posters that were displayed on the walls of the workshop venue. The gallery walk stimulated dialogue around identified risks and options for action and thus set a valuable baseline for the discussion to follow.

Training programme in Namibia – Good Practice for Step 5

Following the identification of training needs in the workshops in Namibia, the project team designed and conducted a training programme with creative elements such as blended learning or field visits.

 

In Namibia, the local team developed a two-day training programme, which they subsequently conducted in Swakopmund, a central hub in the Erongo Region. To give tourism stakeholders from remote areas the opportunity to participate as well, the workshop was also streamed online. As part of the training, four different modules were offered to the participants: GIS, Destination Brand Management, Community Resilience and Tourism Resilience.

 

In the GIS-module, participants learned how to identify areas prone to flooding and drought, estimate fire danger and analyse areas prone to human–wildlife conflict. As part of the key risk “drought”, which was identified in the preceding workshops, sustainable water consumption, recycling and water harvesting for tourism stakeholders were discussed.

 

Further topics of the other modules were climate change awareness (e.g. use of climate resilient tourism assets and infrastructure, benefits of having an early warning communication system and training in disaster preparedness and risk inventory), training on collective action (e.g. building successful partnerships/collaborations, social capital) and diversification of business action (e.g. investment in multiple streams of income, savings). Due to the modular structure of the programme, participants had the opportunity to attend every module they were interested in.

 

In conclusion, the training in Namibia was very successful and presented participants with new and important insights. To aid accreditation of the knowledge shared, every participant received a certificate of participatio in the end.

Outcomes

 

Photo credits

Pascale Gueret/iStockphoto

University of Namibia

Eva Posch