Foreword

Dear fellow Namibians, thank you for joining me in welcom­ing our Summit delegates to the Land of the Brave.
The moment has arrived that we have been dreaming about for the past two years, starting with Namibia’s first ever participation at the Adven­ture Travel World Summit in Mexico in 2011 where Namibia, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Environ­ment and Tourism, decided to take on the challenge of bidding to host the Summit in 2013. This was followed by Namibia’s attendance at the 2012 Ad­venture Travel World Summit which took place in Switzerland, where the flame of the host nation for 2013 was handed over to Namibia. We are still remembering with fond memories our excitement on that day as Team Destination Namibia in Switzerland.
Our story has been and is still, Na­mibia’s commitment to conservation as represented by the establishment of national and private conservation ar­eas, and crowned by the formation of the communal conservancy areas that gained attraction and became a global example of giving rights to local peo­ple over the resources on their land. Conservancies chose sustainable de­velopment and tourism is a prime motivating factor in this choice. It is a choice for the future – for our chil­dren and our country.
From us, the custodian of destina­tion marketing, we look beyond the Summit. The Summit has great mar­keting value to Namibia. The Adven­ture Travel World Summit attracts the high decision making persons of the global tourism industry. The signifi­cant presence of international travel and tourism media representatives whose focus is on Namibia hosting the ATWS, as well as the coverage that Namibia will receive during and after the global platform, will posi­tion Namibia well as a tourism des­tination. This will result in excellent coverage of Namibia and the value of this in real marketing efforts is in­comparable.
This is the first time ever, the ATWS will be hosted in Africa which will re­sult in not only creating awareness of this diverse travel destination, but will also yield positive returns to the Namibian economy in terms of in­creased tourism bookings and future arrivals, with direct economic im­pact for Namibia as the host of this international event. This event can also further improve the diplomatic positioning of brand Namibia as a stable, forward-looking, and progres­sive country open for visitors and investment alike, by showcasing its unique tourism offering coupled with a steady and established private busi­ness sector.
Visitors have different needs, ex­pectations and preferences. For exam­ple, we have mountainous landscape, excellent a biking trails, flagship na­tional parks, Ramsar-declared wet­land, rock paintings, above all authen­tic culture and traditions. To make Namibia’s brand fun and appealing, we have to prepare our tourism indus­try package and offer the services in a manner that will put Namibia at the top list of the holiday makers.
The commitment and involvement of the Namibian Government in the hosting of the Summit, is clear testi­mony that the sector, as listed among the top three in the Namibian econo­my, has a potential and is expected to turn around the unemployment rate and poverty alleviation in Namibia.
Fellow Namibians, let us join hands and show our visitors true patriotism, our true face of Africa, our true land of smiling people as we host them in our beautiful Namibia.