The Namibian ambassador in Moscow said that direct flights could appear between the two countries. He also said that Russian tourists are showing interest in the destination. We found out from tour operators whether this is really so. Bonus – beautiful photos from Namibia.

NAMIBIA INVITES RUSSIA TO OPEN DIRECT FLIGHTS

Namibia offered Russia to organize a direct flight between Windhoek and Moscow. Now the issue is under consideration by the relevant authorities, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Ambassador of Namibia in Russia, Clemens Handuukeme Kashuupulva.

Today there is not such a large flow of tourists to Namibia that a direct flight becomes necessary

“A proposal was made to direct flight between Windhoek and Moscow. However, this issue is under consideration by the relevant authorities at the national level,” the agency quotes a representative of this South African country.

According to the ambassador, Russian tourists “express interest in visiting Namibia.”

WILL RUSSIAN TOURISTS GO TO NAMIBIA

At the same time, travel business professionals, for their part, are not so confident in the success of the event.

For example, the advertising and PR director of the Russian Express tour operator Anna Filatovskaya told Vestnik ATOR that today there is not such a large flow of tourists to Namibia that a direct flight becomes necessary. However, the company regularly receives requests for tours to African countries, although they are few in absolute numbers.

Offers combined tours with visits to several countries in Africa and tour operator China Travel. For example, Ethiopia – Zambia – South Africa – Mauritius. In Namibia, according to the company's specialists, it is also possible to combine sightseeing and beach holidays, but all African destinations south of the equator in the Russian market remain “author's” – there is no talk of any mass character.

Direct flights may increase the interest of Russians in Namibia. Photo by Evgenia Bakhtieva

On the other hand, it is the presence of a direct flight that can contribute to the growth of interest in the destination, according to KMP Group.

“Currently we do not see much demand for Namibia, but most likely, in the current conditions, direct flights will increase the interest of tourists in this direction and neighboring countries. Direct flights for business trips will be especially convenient,” a representative of the tour operator told Vestnik ATOR.

Space Travel, in turn, believes that, like other African countries, Namibia has an interesting tourism potential, since in the country you can combine sightseeing and beach holidays. But in order to attract tourists, one direct flight is not enough.

“It is of great importance how the country itself will promote itself in Russia. Without significant investments in marketing, only through a direct flight, I think it will not be possible to achieve great success,” says the head of the tour operator, ATOR Vice President Artur Muradyan.

WHO, WHERE AND IN WHAT QUANTITIES DOES GO TO NAMIBIA

In general, as the interviewed experts emphasize, interest in traveling to Africa was steadily growing before the pandemic, both in Russia and in the world as a whole. As for Namibia, the number of foreign tourists in this country from 2018 to 2019, according to the Minister of Environment and Tourism Pohamba Shifet, increased by 1.3%. In 2019, a record 1.68 million foreigners visited Namibia.

Most travelers come to Namibia from neighboring Angola, South Africa, Zambia, Germany, France and the UK can be noted from distant markets. Most tourists visit the country from September to December. At the same time, air communication with Namibia is, in principle, rather scarce, so direct flights from Moscow could just have a noticeable effect on the picture of inbound tourism in this country.

Tourists to Namibia travel mainly from Angola, South Africa, Zambia. Photo by Evgenia Bakhtieva

“In recent years we have seen an increase in the number of tourism businesses and Namibia has really become a popular destination for people from all over the world. The increase in tourism has further fueled much-needed growth in the sector, including investment in infrastructure and human resource development, as well as employment opportunities along its broad value chain,” Namibian Environment and Tourism Minister Shifeta said ahead of the pandemic. .

Namiibya attracts tourists with its wild untouched nature. Photo by Evgenia Bakhtieva

However, the coronavirus pandemic has made its own adjustments to the development of tourism in this South African country. But, like the rest of the world, Africa, although not so actively refusing sanitary restrictions (and, perhaps, here is the only case when any sanitary restrictions are at least somehow justified), is also gradually opening up more and more for tourists. .

THINGS TO DO IN NAMIBIA IF YOU DO FLY THERE

In Namibia, it is nature tourism that is developed and interesting. Among the main tourist attractions:

Namib-Naukluft Park is one of the world's largest protected natural areas, stretching from the central Namibian plateau to the Namib desert.

“Wide expanses framed by purple and blue mountains and incredible sunsets make Namib Naukluft a place of exceptional beauty and tranquility. The only sound you will hear is a light breeze. And time seems to have stopped, as if the clock had stopped,” the country’s tourist portal Visit Namibia lures to Namibia, promising tourists even dinosaur footprints.

Incredible sunsets make Namib Naukluft a place of exceptional beauty and tranquility. Photo by Evgenia Bakhtieva

Kalahari Desertstretches all over eastern Namibia.

“This is a magical place where a lucky rain can turn seemingly endless sand into an area of ​​flowers, flowers and covered grasses in the spring,” says the location on the tour portal.

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Regions Kavango and Zambezicrossed by a complex network of rivers and rainfall is relatively frequent, which has created a fertile wild landscape of riverine forests, floodplains, swamps and light forests. These two regions are locally considered “Namibia's wetland paradise”.

Due to the presence of a large number of birds, these regions attract ornithologists, nature lovers and, in particular, bird watching (so-called birdwatching) from all over the world. Interesting boat trips are possible along the Zambezi River.

RUSSIANS MORE AND MORE PROSPECTS TO GET TO KNOW AFRICA CLOSER

To be fair, direct flights to Namibia and Africa in general are far from the first such initiative in recent months.

Earlier, we wrote in great detail about the tourist opportunities of neighboring Zimbabwe, in the same connection as talking about direct flights.

Prior to this, Ethiopian Airlines offered to take a closer look at the stopover in their country, which, due to the lack of international flights, is also in demand among Russian tourists.

Prospects to get acquainted with Africa, the Russians have more and more. Photo by Evgenia Bakhtieva

Now there are direct flights from Russia to Algeria. Although this is a fundamentally different tourist story, and in a completely different part of the African continent, but in terms of the degree of exoticism for Russian travelers, this country is quite worthy of being on a par with Namibia

On the one hand, all these destinations are not only almost unknown to the mass Russian tourist, but also a novelty even for lovers of exotic tourism. On the other hand, sooner or later, apparently, we will have to get acquainted with them one way or another, because other perspectives are very limited.

Ekaterina Tropova