Travel News - Industry News - Namibia in Scandinavia
The Matka Nordic Travel Fair, which is held annually in Helsinki,
Finland, is universally recognised as a leading travel-industry event.
Over the past four years, a total of 35 Namibian tourism companies have
attended Matka, made possible by financial support of the Embassy of
Finland through the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB).
For Namibia Matka is the best travel fair for making contact with the
Nordic countries, Baltic region and Russia. Consumers visit the fair
mainly to access information on destinations abroad and to find new
destinations, whereas members from the travel trade visit to gain
information on new products and services.
Matka 2010 was held from 21–24 January, with the theme Travel as a
Preserver of Culture. About 82 000 people attended the 4-day event – 17
868 trade representatives and over 60 000 consumers. Exhibitors had the
opportunity to schedule appointments with trade partners.
According to a representative of the NTB, the Namibian team had fruitful
meetings with travel agents, operators and the media, which have
resulted in real business agreements. Eight tourism businesses (four
SME/BBBEE and four mainstream) were represented on the NTB stand –
Okaume Travel, Sahara Travel, Vulkan Ruine Tours and Safaris, Wilderness
Safaris Namibia, Royal Tours Namibia, Accommodation Association of
Namibia, Namibia Wildlife Resorts and Air Namibia’s representative in
Finland. The NTB considers the event to be the leading travel and
tourism fair in that part of the world.
www.namibiatourism.com.na
Comments from Matka 2010 participants Kristina Reinke of Wilderness Safaris Namibia has been attending Matka since 2002. “In the beginning the Finns knew only about the Finnish missionaries who were in Ovamboland at the beginning of the twentieth century, but today they are well travelled and well informed. Many big tour-operating companies in Finland feature Namibia in their brochures and the interest is growing. A large number of people are interested in Namibia and want to travel, but for some it is too expensive, due to the high price of air tickets. Still, the bookings look promising, both for 2010 and 2011. Wilderness Safaris would definitely like to participate in future and for me as a Finn, it is important for Namibia to stay visible at Matka.”
Puye Hilokuah of Okaume Travel said about the event, “Okaume Travel
exhibited at Matka in 2009 and 2010, with greater interest being shown
in Namibia in 2009. Whereas we obtained direct business from consumers
in 2009, we also generated some from the travel trade in 2010. This
could be because there were fewer operators and travel agents from
neighbouring countries at the Namibia stand in 2010, whereas in 2009
we also received agents from Russia, Poland and other countries. The
fact that only a few Namibian promotions are done in Finland may also
contribute to why the number of Finns travelling to Namibia does not
increase. The potential is there; it is just a matter of increasing our
marketing in Finland and Scandinavia.”
Tuafi Nghixulifwa of Sahara Travel feels that Matka was a great
experience. “While a great deal still needs to be done in terms of
selling our product and marketing our country, at least, through the
Matka Trade Fair, the groundwork has been laid.”
