Bushiri’s spiritual tourism

 Prophet Shepherd Bushiri of Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) arrived in the country from South Africa in December 2020 amid Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic saw the tourism industry hit hard as tourists faced global travel restrictions. Local tourism establishments could not survive solely on domestic tourism potential.

Their prayer was to see the pandemic reduce to allow the opening of global economies, including abolishment of travel bans.

When the pandemic eased and countries started administering Covid-19 vaccinations, economies started opening up.

Little did players in the tourism industry know about spiritual tourism which is now

blossoming following thousands of visits by foreign delegates yearning to pray with Bushiri.

In an interview, Golden Peacock Hotel marketing manager Malumbo Kondowe said they are one of main beneficiary hotels as 60 percent of their business comes from Bushiri’s international visitors.

One of the local firms, Rayoni Air Flying Club last weekend flew in its first batch of foreign spiritual tourists hoping to help in boosting the local tourism industry.

The 126 tourists from South Africa and Botswana, among other countries, arrived in a Boeing 737-500 that landed at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe on Friday.

The flying club is a subsidiary of the Rayoni Spiritual Tourism Centre and its director Anthony Mkumbwa says the tourists came to worship at the ECG Church.

“These tourists are bringing serious foreign exchange into the country and promoting the hospitality industry because they will be here for some days. These tourists will be coming every week,” he says.

Local small businesses have benefitted as well.

One of such is Unandi Kamange, a taxi operator from Area 25 Township in Lilongwe who says his daily earnings have received a boost with the arrival of the international visitors.

“We suffered huge economic losses following the pandemic. But thanks to Bushiri, our businesses are recovering.

“We celebrate the great son of the soil for contributing highly to our improved economic livelihoods,” he says.

One of Bushiri’s visitors who was lodging at Sunbird Capital in Lilongwe Patricia Kuwong, a barrister from Cameroon says being her first visit to Malawi, she plans to visit Mangochi, Mzuzu and Blantyre before she leaves.

“We will keep coming to Malawi as long as Bushiri is here. People here are so friendly and the country is peaceful. Before returning home, I would want to visit the famous Lake Malawi too,” says the seemingly excited Kuwong.

ECG’s spokesperson Ephraim Nyondo said a fortnight ago they had about 4 800 international visitors that came to celebrate Prophet Bushiri’s birthday on February 20.

He says: ‘Every month, we receive about 4 200 international visitors into the country who come to pray with the prophet.

“On average, they stay about seven days in Malawi. Besides jetting in Lilongwe, these visitors also visit mostly Mzuzu, Mangochi, Salima, Ntcheu and Blantyre.”

Malawi Tourism Council (MTC) board chairperson Johns Malili says Bushiri’s spiritual tourism has brought hope for sound recovery of tourism industry with thousands of international visits being recorded every month.

Acting director of tourism Sostein Lingwalanya says they are pleased to see Bushiri contributing to meetings, incentives, conferences and events as part of recovery efforts.

He says: “I know for the past week or so, we have seen large numbers of international visitors.

“As long as these visitors stay in licensed hotel and tourism establishments, we are assured of economic benefits in various ways including taxes.”

He says high numbers of international visitors also establishes complementary benefits in food and beverages sector including jobs as businesses pick up.

Lingwalanya says: “There are various roles the government is playing to support this spiritual tourism. For instance, the Department of Civil Aviation is facilitating the landing and taking off of planes, including the chartered ones. Visitors coming from countries that require visa to enter Malawi means they are paying visa fees as revenue for the government”.

Tourisms is among government’s priority sectors and it contributes eight percent to the country’s gross domestic product