Swakopmund — The Namibian Police in the Erongo Region together with the hospitality association and the tourism association's coastal branches have opened a Tourism Protection Unit at the coast.

The unit is situated at the Woermann Haus Ankerplatz in Swakopmund and was established to provide extra protection for tourists and to make them feel safer, while at the same time providing much need information about tourist destinations and activities offered in the region.

NamPol will be renting office space from the municipality for two years to accommodate the unit. A task group of the Hotel Association of Namibia (HAN) with the assistance of the Coastal Tourism Association (CTA) renovated the office at a cost of N$50 000. They will also be responsible for the maintenance of the unit.

This is the second Tourist Protection Unit in Namibia with the first already operating in Windhoek since 2011. "This initiative will not only attract more tourists to our region, but will definitely lure more international investors to Erongo," the mayor of Swakopmund Juuso Kambueshe said at the official commissioning of the unit.

Kambueshe also urged the community to keep a close eye on criminals targeting tourists. "Nampol and neighbourhood watches will continuously enforce law and order. Anyone who is overstepping these boundaries will be dealt with," he said. Also speaking at the occasion the Erongo Regional Commander of Nampol, Commissioner Samuel //Hoebeb thanked the Swakopmund business fraternity for working closely with the Namibian police to make the Tourist Protection Unit a reality.