Tourism in Namibia continues as before

The Namibian government have just announced their latest plans to curb the spread of Covid-19, and imposed additional restrictions for two weeks as from 1 July 2021.

These new restrictions are mainly intended to restrict movement of residents, and tourists remain exempt from them providing they can show a copy of the negative SARS-CoV-2 PCR test they provided when they entered the country and proof of holiday arrangement - such as an airline ticket, a safari itinerary or vouchers for accommodation. As a result, these new restrictions should also have little or no impact on the arrangements made for holidays in Namibia.. 
 
Tourists remain free to move between regions and all hotels, guesthouses, lodges, camps and other tourism infrastructure  remain open for tourism.  Restaurants in hospitality establishments  remain open for meals, and are able to serve drinks to residents as normal. However, public restaurants, not attached to an accommodation establishment, are now only able to serve meals for take away purposes, and they are also subject to extended curfew regulations  as curfew is now from 9pm to 4am.
 
We understand the concerns about the recent increase in numbers of Covid cases in Namibia, but would like to reassure visitors concerning the possible impact of that on their travel arrangements. The majority of recent infections are still in crowded urban areas, and they have not been recorded in many of the remote areas in which the guests will be staying. In fact, that very remoteness remains much of the reason these lodges have remained fairly immune. Added to that, most of the people the guests will be coming into contact with will still either be other travellers who have recent negative Covid test results on arrival in the country, or lodge staff and guides who have now largely also been vaccinated – as well as being tested regularly. 
 
We are fortunate in that the majority of those involved in the tourism industry have already been vaccinated as the Namibian Government had to foresight to give vaccination priority to those in the industry, precisely to give the sort of reassurance that is being sought here. Namibia was one of the first counties in Africa to re-open for tourism, and the fact that the number of visitors started low and has climbed significantly since then has given plenty of time for tourism practitioners to get their protocols properly in place – please see the link to “Covid Safety Measures” in the signature block below.  As from June 2021, Ultimate Safaris has achieved herd immunity with the majority of all tribe members now fully vaccinated.
 
As always, Ultimate Safaris will ensure that all ground support is in place to ensure that seamless travel is possible for all those guests whose entire safari arrangements have been booked with us.  Since opening its borders late in 2020, travellers have continued to praise Namibia as being the ideal destination to visit with its open spaces, sunny days, sparsely populated wilderness areas, and low tourism density.