Although blessed with natural wonders, Malawi is struggling to woo visitors and fulfil the poor southern African country’s ambition of turning tourism into a strong generator of foreign currency.
Malawi, which dubs itself the ”Warm Heart of Africa”, boasts a slew of national parks, game reserves, mountains and Lake Malawi — Africa’s third-largest freshwater lake.
But despite all these, and an attempt to pitch eco-tourism, foreign travellers are not arriving in droves.
”Do tourists know our country? We need to market our country effectively to triple tourist numbers,” said Charles Merrick, who runs Malawi’s only hotel training school in the commercial capital Blantyre.
Merrick said Malawi was undersold abroad because ”marketing is still in the hands of government and not the private sector and stakeholders involved in the industry,” adding that the country, reeling under a domestic debt of $600-million, lacked funds to promote the sector.
”Basics such as brochures and information are hard to find.”
Malawi is trying to pitch green tourism to win the much-needed tourist dollar.
”We are repositioning ourselves as a leading eco-tourism destination in this part of Africa,” said Patricia Liabuba, publicist for the tourism ministry.
It has partially paid off.
About 383 000 tourists — mainly from South Africa and Europe — visited the country in 2002, according to official statistics, a 3,5% increase over the figure in 1993.
Tourists shunned Malawi until 1993 due to the strict dress code imposed during three decades of dictatorial rule by Kamuzu Banda.
Female visitors were banned from wearing trousers or miniskirts, except at beach resorts, while men with long hair, whom Banda constantly called ”hippies”, were not allowed to enter the country.
Men were not allowed to wear bell-bottom pants.
Borders and international airports — closely monitored by Banda’s notorious secret service — had strict instructions to deport tourists flouting the dress code.
Casinos, outlawed for many years, only started operating two years ago in the main cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre under government licence.
But since the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, the government has been pushing tourism as one of the possible industries to replace tobacco as the main foreign exchange currency earner and employer.
The tourism industry currently only contributes four percent to the gross domestic product, although government officials say this can rise to 10% if properly developed.
Tobacco alone, despite being hit hard by the international anti-smoking lobby and low prices, generates up to 70% of the country’s forex.
But a new plan to develop tourism adopted three years ago has not been successful because of a number of constraints, including poor roads and telecommunications and few direct flights from Europe into the country.
Tourists fly into Malawi after stop-overs at regional hubs and then embark on long road trips to reach prime tourist destinations, scattered throughout the country, which is wedged between Mozambique and Zambia.
During the rainy season, from October to April, access by road to national parks and game reserves is virtually impossible.
”The other problem is that of high tariff structures of existing hotels and poor value for money offered in comparison to hotels in competing regional destinations,” Liabuba said.
”This is compounded by high taxation imposed by the government.”
Hotels in Malawi charge exorbitant prices, with an average of $150 for one night’s stay and breakfast at a three-star hotel.
Up to 17% of the charges are subject to surtax.
”We are overpricing ourselves. Tourism is being stifled by surtax,” said Herbert Chihana, a senior tourism official.
”We need zero surtax charge on tourism for five years if we are to develop the industry and promote the country as an eco-tourism destination,” the official said. – Sapa-AFP