 TOURISM: A NEW ERA, A NEW FOCUS |
By adopting a policy that enables the private operators to manage tourism enterprises, the government has achieved improved standards of services in the tourist lodges in the parks. This year has seen the arrival of Le Meridien group to Malawi. "We believe that this country will develop in the tourism and commercial sectors. It has a lot of potential and is a very beautiful country.," commented Paul Dalrymple, the Malawi Country General Manager. The arrival of Le Meriden signifies a milestone in international hotel standards for Malawi. Over the next two years, Le Meridien will ambitiously transform the hotels it will manage. Various phases of development have begun in the main city hotels and before the end of the year, the next phase of development will start on the exclusive beach properties along Lake Malawi. The Muluzi governments’ policy on tourism development in the next five years is to ensure that the number of international standard hotels is increased throughout the country.
Meanwhile, the government is heavily promoting investments for lakeshore hotels and lodges as well as an exclusive Hotel in Cape Maclear in Mangochi, a popular tourist destination in the southern part of lake Malawi. A hotel at Likoma Island, in the northern part of the lake, lodges at Mwaya in Nkhata-Bay and at Chifuyo beach in Karonga, a five star Hotel in Blantyre and another in Lilongwe.
Tourism Minister Mtafu outlined that " Lake Malawi has two beautiful islands, which are Chizumulu, and Likoma. The Islands were originally from what was then known as Portuguese East Africa, better known today as Mozambique. However, the British cleverly and strategically managed to obtain the Islands under their administration." The Islands are also very much in line with the country’s developments as there has been a renewed interest of investors coming forward looking for Islands to invest in. The Ministry of Tourism, parks and Wildlife is safeguarding the future developments of the islands with strict environmental policy aimed at preserving their natural beauty.
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Out of the 54 countries in Africa, Malawi is recorded at number 20 in tourism development. The ambitious development program being implemented will no doubt ensure that within the next five years Malawi will become popular to the international discerning traveller. The government has also engaged itself in finding ways to promote cultural tourism as well as Eco-tourism, which are at the top of the tourism agenda. President Muluzi’s policy on investment has focused much on tourism as well as agriculture, Creating suitable Hotels, such as Le Meridien is necessary for tourism as the country is geographically positioned at the heart of the region, which provides immense opportunity for the tourism industry in Malawi. "We would like to be more selective in our investments, focusing on strategic economic sectors so that we become involved in highly commercial projects in order to create a high impact on the economy, creating employment and having a more diverse economic base from which to work.. Our strategy will be for tourism and the hospitality sector," explained the Malawi Development Corporations’ (MDC) Chairman Thom Kanyuka and General Manager Patrick Makina. |
