Dates for next year’s Namibia Tourism Expo have been set to take place from 10 to 13 June 2015 at the Windhoek showgrounds.
The 17th annual Namibia Tourism Expo (NTE) is organised by Republikein, Namibian Sun and Allgemeine Zeitung and is supported by all Namibian tourism organisations, including the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB).
“As in the past, our aim is to provide a platform for Namibia and the region’s hospitality industry to promote and market their products and services to all involved in the industry as well as the general public,” says Alta Bredenkamp, Public Relations Executive at Namibia Media Holdings (NMH).
Since its inception in 1999, the NTE has consistently grown and has become the premier tourist event. It has earned a superb reputation for offering the only centralised marketing platform for Namibia’s hospitality industry.
Apart from presenting a highly effective showcase for exhibitors active in tourism, the organisers have revitalised the exhibition year after year by expanding the showcase.
The NTE hosts exhibits by local, regional and international establishments and also features interactive chef’s demonstrations, Namibian arts & crafts exhibitions, food, beer & wine tasting, and a host of other fun activities to attract travel enthusiasts, foodies, friends of tourism and the general public alike.
The 2014 NTE drew 24 326 visitors, around 3 500 more than 2013, and once again proved to be a draw-card for a diverse array of business sectors and Namibians from all walks of life.
In 2014 the NTE also became the first local expo to offer all visitors free Wi-Fi access. This was made possible by a smart partnership between Paratus Telecom, Bidvest Namibia IT and NMH.
The 2014 event also saw the introduction of the NTE smartphone app which enabled visitors to rate stands and win prizes.
“We are looking forward to the 2015 event which will be bigger and bolder, placing Namibia’s tourism industry in the spotlight – an industry which is vital to the Namibian economy and the achievement of the country’s Vision 2030 goals,” Albe Botha, NMH’s Chief Executive said.
For more information contact Alta Bredenkamp at: alta@dmh.com.na.
Staff of Paratus Telecom explain the Wi-Fi usage data to Alta Bredenkamp from the Namibia Tourism Expo.
More than 1 460 visitors made use of the free Wi-Fi service on Thursday at the Namibia Tourism Expo (NTE), which kicked off in Windhoek on Wednesday.
Paratus Telecom and Bidvest Namibia IT this year partnered with the NTE to, for the first time in the expo’s 16 year history provide both exhibitors and visitors to with high-speed internet access for the duration of the event.
Statistics released on Thursday evening reveal that the top daily user downloaded data to the tune of 3.85 Gig while 99 MB worth of data was uploaded on an Android device.
The rest of the top five users each downloaded between 3.01 Gig and 2.23 Gig’s worth of data on Thursday.
The usage for Thursday was measured between 22:00 Wednesday and 22:00 Thursday and shows that the peak usage period was at 14:00 when data of 9.07 Gig was downloaded.
The most active point was the President’s Hall where 8.83 Gig was uploaded during the period while 5.59 Gig was uploaded.
The President’s Hall was followed by the Gourmet Hall and Restaurant Hall.
According to Willie Viljoen, Senior Systems Administrator at Bidvest Namibia IT there were 2 033 total connections since the system was rolled-out earlier this week, 1 465 of which were during the Wednesday / Thursday measurement.
The most users using the service at the same time came in at 502.
The all time top user thus far also had an Android device and used about8.5 Gig worth of data,
What makes the all time top user stand out, is that this individual uploaded 8.3 Gig of data Viljoen says. Only that “usually one would expect someone to download more than upload” and not the other way around.
Visitors to the Namibia Tourism Expo were impressed with the quality of Wi-Fi reception at Namibia’s premier tourist event, with one tweeting : “Must say the #WiFi at the @NamTourismEx is awesome. Well done! #VisitorExperience.”
To connect to the Wi-Fi service at the NTE, select the NMH-Paratus connection and it’s a go!
The who’s who of the Namibian tourism industry flocked to the Windhoek Show Grounds yesterday for the official opening of the 16th annual Namibia Tourism Expo.
Welcome speech at 16th annual Namibia Tourism Expo: Monica Kalondo: Chairman Namibia Media Holdings (Pty) Ltd
This is the 16th annual Namibia Tourism Expo and with the assistance of our brands Republikein, Namibian Sun and Allgemeine Zeitung we are once again proud to organise and market this prestigious event.
At this year’s expo, we are also launching our new corporate brand, Namibia Media Holdings. NMH owns the brands Newsprint, Republikein, Namibian Sun, Allgemeine Zeitung, our first regional newspaper, Erongo, our monthly tourism supplement, Tourismus, and other industry supplements. The company has a long and proud media history for over 37 years and today we officially launch the NMH logo which replaces the DMH logo.
Africa is rich in its heritage of communicating and telling stories to everyone, so that everyone can enrich their lives with knowledge, understanding, compassion and respect. These stories have been shared for centuries around the campfires of Africa and ensured that the community felt a sense of belonging and harmony when these stories are discussed and debated. Today is no different and the campfire is still a central point of communication for communities in Africa and Namibia. At NMH we wish to be part of your campfire stories and share them with the community in which you communicate.
The Namibian Tourism Expo is one of the many campfires we have created in this beautiful country in which we help communities to share their stories. We are proud to be part of the tourism industry in sharing their stories with Namibians at this very unique event. The 2014 theme of the Namibia Tourism Expo is “No Limits” and we hope this will inspire everyone involved to be innovative in sharing their stories with visitors.
We are also proud to once again have Bank Windhoek on board as our anchor sponsor for the Bank Windhoek Republikein Motor Show and with the co-sponsorship of the Gondwana Collection Namibia have great stories to share with visitors this year.
Tourism and adventure tourism in particular is all about engaging and Ferrari, with the assistance of Shell Vivo, is touring Namibia this year to share the dream story of driving, seeing a Ferrari and visiting the Namibia Tourism Expo as part of their journey. Make sure that you visit their stand and enter in their exciting competition. Maybe you can share your story of visiting Brazil at the Formula 1 race in November with everyone.
At NMH we recognise that sharing stories today does not just happen around the traditional campfire and that new virtual campfires have been ‘lit’ with social media and smart phone technology. We are proud that the Namibia Tourism Expo will, for the first time, have Wi-Fi access for exhibitors and visitors – proudly sponsored by Paratus Telecom and Bidvest Namibia IT – making social media engagement a reality.
MyNamibia will host a mobile application that will enable visitors to receive news of events at the expo, participate in competitions and rate the stands at the expo. This will truly enhance the ability of all to share their stories with each other.
Sharing the story of hope is also very important for NMH and at the heart of hope is education. Please support our charity, the Amos Meerkat School Project which focuses on pre-primary education for children in need on farms, in rural areas of the country and in the city.
Buy a buff or buy wine tokens and support this educational effort. Close to 3000 pre-primary children across the country will appreciate your contribution. The story of hope will become a reality for these children.
We encourage visitors to engage each and every exhibitor at the Namibia Tourism Expo and let them share their story with you.
The heart of our story-telling events will be at the Old Mutual events tent. The choir competition will share their story of song, the bridal competition finals will share their story of love and hope and on Friday night we will host the Jan-Spies story-telling event. At this event the National Story-telling Gondwana Competition for aspiring story-tellers in Namibia will be launched.
We would once again like to thank the Windhoek Show Society for allowing us to host the Namibia Tourism Expo at their venue. We appreciate the cooperation and passion with which you have supported this event.
We thank all our exhibitors and visitors to the Expo for their continued support in making this Expo one of the premier events on the Namibian calendar. May we also continue to share the story of this beautiful country with one and all in a responsible manner.
So come and join NMH and its brands and share your stories, whether it is hard news, or sharing a message through an advertisement. We are honoured to be part of your campfire in sharing your story with everyone.
Short on the heels of the Namibia Tourism Expo’s partnering with Paratus Telecom and Bidvest IT to provide free Wi-Fi to both exhibitors and visitors at this year’s expo, the event organisers have announced that a dedicated smartphone app will also be available.
The Namibia Tourism Expo app will be available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android market.
“The aim of the app is to actively enhance engagement between visitors and exhibitors,” says Namibia Media Holdings CEO, Albe Botha.
The app will provide information of all exhibitors and where they are situated as well as a program of events, such as the Chef’s Theatre. It will also provide the layout of the Windhoek Show Grounds and have a live newsfeed which will keep users informed of activities taking place at the 16th annual Namibia Tourism Expo.
Visitors and exhibitors will be encouraged to rate stands at the expo according to specified criteria. For each rating they submit via the app, they will be awarded six points. The more they rate, the more points they accumulate.
The competition is in a “touch & win” format, where you need 10 points for one spin. This is your entry for a lucky draw.
A variety of instant prizes will be up for grabs, with lucky entrants who stand a chance to win a hot air balloon ride or television set, among others.
The app is powered by my.na better known as My Namibia and was developed by Intouch Interactive Marketing.
After downloading and initial signup for a my.na account, users will be awarded 16 points to start engaging. Each stand will have a QR code which users need to scan. Thereafter they will have the opportunity to rate the stand according to Interactivity and Engagement, Visual Appeal and lastly, the “Wow Factor”.
After rating, users will instantly receive their one point and can continue to another stand.
“The theme of this year’s Namibia Tourism Expo is No Limits. It is an apt description for technology too, since it definitely has no limits and is constantly changing and evolving,” says Wilko Aschenborn, managing member at Intouch Interactive Marketing.
“For the first time at a Namibian expo both exhibitors and visitors will be kept up to date with all the exciting events taking place,” says Aschenborn.
BidVest Namibia IT
Meanwhile, Bidvest Namibia IT General Manager, Pierre Joubert, said that the company will work in partnership with Paratus Telecom to provide high speed internet to all who will be attending the expo.
“We will provide the wireless network infrastructure at the show grounds and this will enable all devices with Wi-Fi capability to access the internet. No password will be required and users simply have to connect to the available wireless network,” Joubert said on Friday.
According to Joubert the whole site will be covered by one network without the need for visitors and exhibitors to switch as they move through the expo.
The Namibia Tourism Expo is set to take place from 4 to 7 June.
Namibia Tourism Expo #MyTourismExpo 