www.allAfrica.com  Despite some problems still within the Namibian tourism sector, the Lake Oanob Resort and Game Reserve has recorded steady and consistent growth over the past decade. This is the concerned view of the CEO, Christy Benade.

"Presently we get up to 10 000 overseas tourists per year of which 45% of the 800 or so per month primarily come from Germany and the Netherlands. The rest of our clientele are Namibians, especially over weekends," Christy Benade said in his small and modest office on the premises.

In his opinion, the country's tourist industry is still ethnically dominated.

"More established tour operators are not supporting us sufficiently, yet we are the only black empowerment tourism project in the country, so much so that we at one stage considered appointing someone to run and promote the place among the white tourist fraternity," Benade, who is running the resort on behalf of the seven board members for ten years, said.

"Adding to this situation is the fact that infrastructure creation is a big problem, too because of a lack of a greater monthly income. The maintenance and expensive running costs of the resort are primarily raised from the 60 shareholders in the company during lean and slack tourist periods," he said of the resort, which is frequented regularly by weekend pleasure seekers and dwellers from the nearby town of Rehoboth.

According to Benade, the resort, with a full time personnel of 30 workers, has a definite role to play in the tourist industry.

"This is especially true as far as putting Rehoboth on the map, as an attractive tourist destination, through advertising in industry related-magazines and our own website, is concerned. Secondly, worker training forms an important and integral part of our mission," he said of the leisure resort that accommodates up to 500 people over any given weekend.

The Lake Aonob Resort at present has a 54-bed capacity, 25 camp sites and recently completed it's own gravel air-trip at an estimated cost of N120 000.

"Naturally we would welcome more overseas and local visitors to the resort and Rehoboth, something that offers a multitude of economic spin-offs and advantages to us and the entire Gebiet. Tourists as a rule spend money wherever they go. We can all benefit more if tourist operators encourage their clients more into this direction," he said.

Air tourism, titled Classic Air Travel Adventure, and the life style concept, offering plots for private houses, feature very high in the future plans of the company.

"With our own airstrip solidly in place we can now regularly fly in up to some sixty tourists from any destination, but specifically from Eros urban airport in a DC-6 passenger plane. To officially inaugurate this dimension of our activity expansion we are planning test flights for next week. Furthermore, we are in the process of extending our bed capacity to 100 beds," Benade excitedly said.