There’s a good chance that Namibia isn’t on your radar screen. But it soon will be, because entrepreneurs and tourism companies are quickly snapping up Namibian domains to establish or expand their Web presence in this southern African country.
Did you know that the Republic of Namibia is the thirty-fourth largest country in the world (about twice the size of California), but also the second least densely populated, with fewer than three people per square kilometer? Or that Namibia is the world’s fifth largest producer of uranium? In fact, about three quarters of the country’s gross national product comes from mining operations.
However, while mining represents by far the most important part of Namibia’s economy, tourism is growing rapidly. But this is not the typical tourism with luxury hotels, dance clubs and hanging out with hordes of other tourists. What Namibia has to offer is a something new and exciting – the fascinating world of eco-tourism.
Across the globe, there is ever-increasing interest in eco-tourism, a relatively new form of tourism that concentrates on nature, untouched wildlife, and cultural heritage. Instead of fancy shopping, well-manicured golf courses and gourmet meals, eco-tourism highlights unspoiled natural resources and biological diversity with minimal disturbance of the local fabric. Eco-tourism appeals to individuals who want to experience the natural beauty of our planet, see alternate ways of life, and witness cultural and biologic diversity without commercializing or exploiting it.
Why is Namibia a rising star with eco-tourists? And why does a Google search of “eco-tourism” and “Namibia” yield almost 320,000 domain names? That’s because with its stunning geography of vast, breathtaking deserts and plains, 8,400-foot peaks, and giant shallow lakes, Namibia is one of the few remaining examples of untouched nature and wildlife on our planet. Much to its credit, Namibia is very progressive in protecting those natural resources. The protection of natural resources and habitat conservation is actually written into the Namibian constitution, and Namibian local communities have the power to manage wildlife, resources and tourism on their own.
This has fostered the development of a growing number of wildlife reservations in so-called communal conservancies where the local communities are in charge of wildlife management and tourism. At this point, there are almost 50 such communal conservancies in existence and they are attracting a growing number of eco-tourists. The Kuene region with the 16,000 square kilometer Skeleton Coast National Park along the Atlantic coast, especially, has become a major eco-tourism hotspot
For those interested, the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism has an active Community Based Natural Resource Management program (CBNRM), and there is a Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organizations, or NASCO. NASCO partners can be recognized by their Namibia domains. If you come across a URL that ends in .na, it means it is a Namibian domain (as opposed to “not available”). However, since .com has become almost a world standard, domain name registration in Namibia often simply means adding .na to a regular .com URL.
So if you’re an aspiring eco-tourist, check out Namibia. If you want to provide information about opportunities in Namibia, or places such as Mauritius, South Georgia & Sandwich Islands, Timor-Leste, Kiribati, Dominica or Christmas Islands, make sure to get an edge by registering Namibian domains so people can find you!
