By Daniel Namwini, MANA
Malawi will join the rest of the world to commemorate World Tourism Day on September 27, whose is theme ‘Tourism and Rural Development’, that focuses on tourist attractions, accommodation, catering facilities and services for local communities’ tourism development.
Through a press statement issued on Thursday, Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Wildlife, Isaac Katopola said the theme focuses on how tourism has the power to touch on almost every part of the societies and can be used as a strategic tool to revive tourism in the country and rest of the world amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
Katopola pointed out that the objective of commemorating the day and month is to create awareness to the development to the country as a whole through job creation and development of local communities, business mentoring, and education opportunities.
Tongole Wilderness Lodge in Nkhotakota Wildlife
Reserve
He highlighted that, for the revival of tourism in Malawi, the domestic tourism marketing strategy will be launched — aiming at driving domestic travel as well as help Malawians get to know their country better.
“The national tourism month will help stakeholders come together and develop effective ways to revive the tourism sector in the country by taking into consideration the appropriate directions to respond to challenges facing the sector due to COVID-19,” Katopola said.
Shores of Lake Malawi
He encouraged tourism operators to make their places safe for travel and that travelers should take personal responsibility to staying safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the country takes steps to open up for flights.
September was designated as a National Tourism Month in the country as it falls in the month during which United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) member states and rest of the World join hands to commemorate world tourism day which falls on September 27, every year.
Pristine Cape Maclear resorts
According to UNWTO, placing rural development at the heart of tourism policies through education, investment, innovation and technology can transform the livelihoods of millions; preserve our environment and our culture.
Harnessing tourism as a driver of rural development will keep the global community on track to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, their ambitious plan for people and planet.
In his State of Nation Address (SONA) made in Parliament Friday last week, President Lazarus Chakwera said to successfully leverage tourism, there is need to make Malawi an inviting destination by amongst other measures legislating visa-free travel for tourists from high per capita GDP countries.
Chakwera delivering his SONA
He also said private investment in the country’s hospitality sector should be encouraged; securing agreements with commercial airlines so as to include Lilongwe in their global networks and improving logistics and security in and around the country’s airports.
He also said duty bearers should be training to view and treat tourists with respect, courtesy and care.
“Complimenting these developments, we will also need to drive up demand by targeting key markets, including the United States of America and Europe.
Kaya Mawa tourist resort on Likoma Island
“We live in a truly remarkable country. From our beautiful game reserves to our magnificent lake, our country should not be kept hidden from the world.
“Rather we should invite people from far and wide to experience what Malawi has to offer. This is because the generation of business and jobs on a large scale will require mass tourism.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife says it will train owners of 500 micro small medium enterprises (MSMEs) operating in the tourism industry to build their capacity for them to be competent on the sector’s market.
Sosten Lingwalanya
Acting Director of Tourism, Sosten Lingwalanya, disclosed this last week during the closing ceremony of 10-day training of trainers for 26 tourism MSMEs held at Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi.
Lingwalanya said the 26 trained trainers would facilitate the training of 500 MSMEs operating in the tourism industry across the country.
“We’ll be calling upon over 1,600 licensed operators that we have in our database for them to express interest for training and out of these we will select 500 operators with women and the youth as our special target,” Lingwalanya said.
The trained MSMEs
He added that the trained 500 MSMEs will likely transform the industry with their learned skills and competencies.
The ministry is implementing the trainings with funding from the African Development Bank under the project, Promoting Investment and Competitiveness in the Tourism Sector.
The trainings follow a baseline survey that government’s partner in the project, Howarth HTL Consultants, conducted which revealed “enormous demand” for training of MSMEs operating in the sector.
Lead trainer and representative of the consulting company, Peter Jere said after the survey material was developed to “equip the trainers with the necessary skills to communicate and engage the trainees to produce best results in the industry”.
Key topics during the 10-day training included tourism business motivation, tourism products for Malawi, understanding tourism business centric models and patterns, tourism operations management, managing tourism business finance and financial management.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express & Kondwani Magombo, MANA
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