Namibia bets on "Brangelina" tourism boom

WINDHOEK  - Congratulations Namibia ... it's a Brangelina baby boom.

Namibian officials hope the world media furor over a visit by pregnant Hollywood star Angelina Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt will translate into a tourist rush to the African country, famous chiefly for its huge sand dunes and vast empty spaces.

"If Angelina Jolie gives birth in Namibia, she would have done for our tourism sector what our tourism board budget cannot do in a year," Namibian Ambassador to the United States Hopelong Iipinge said in a letter released to the media late on Thursday.

He said the Namibian embassy in Washington had been "inundated with calls from the media and individuals inquiring about Namibia," including requests from major media outlets for video footage of the country's chief attractions.

Jolie and Pitt, dubbed "Brangelina" by the tabloid press and described along with their adopted children as "the world's most beautiful family" this week by People magazine, arrived in Namibia this month amid reports they planned to have their first baby in the country, far from the Hollywood spotlight.

The baby -- due within weeks -- has ignited a paparazzi rush to the remote coastal resort where Jolie and Pitt are staying, prompting Namibia's government to expel several photographers and slap strict new limits on media access.

The security has been criticized as excessive by Namibia's main human rights watchdog, but Iipinge said the extra security made sense.

"It would be an honor for Namibia to become the birthplace of the Pitts' first biological child," Iipinge said, saying privacy was one thing the remote African country could offer the Hollywood pair.

"The publicity we are receiving is because of Angelina and Brad and not the paparazzi. The paparazzi will not come to Namibia on their own. They will only do so when following a celebrity. Angelina and Brad Pitt can boost tourism but the paparazzi cannot," Iipinge said.

Namibia, a country of deserts and diamonds neighboring South Africa, boasts one of the lowest population densities in the world and has not made the menu for many international travelers despite its good infrastructure, scenic game parks and harsh arid landscape.

But images of Namibia, including its famous sand dunes, have hit the world's magazines and television screens thanks to media managing by Jolie and Pitt, who despite their pleas for privacy have welcomed a few select reporters to the coastal lodge where they are staying with their two adopted children.

"Never before have we had so much publicity," Iipinge said. "Angelina Jolie is not only a movie star, she is also the U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and this is the combination which makes her the draw card," he said.