About 20,000 Namibians who live off tourism, which also contributes nine percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), face bleak times as tourists cancel visits to the country following a separatist attack on Caprivi last month, news reports said.
The reports said many tourists had cancelled their bookings after
hearing about the violence in the northeastern regional capital of Katima Mulilo and state of emergency. A tour operator said one lodge in the Caprivi had lost about US $17,000 in cancellations while another has not had any customers since the beginning of August.
Although the state of emergency has since been lifted, the number of soldiers in the area has been beefed up, prompting reports of tourists being harassed by soldiers at the borders surrounding Caprivi.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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