Malawi and Zambia have intensified their push to deepen tourism cooperation through joint destination marketing, cross-border tourism products and regional tourism promotion.
Officials from the two countries held bilateral discussions in Durban, South Africa on the sidelines of Africa’s Travel Indaba 2026 in Durban on Thursday where they agreed to establish a Joint Technical Committee to coordinate tourism cooperation initiatives.
The proposed collaboration, according to a position paper, will focus on destination marketing, tourism investment, transport connectivity and the development of cross-border tourism products linking attractions across Southern Africa.
This comes as Malawi is increasingly positioning tourism sector, which contributes about seven percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), as one of the strategic drivers of foreign exchange generation, investment and economic diversification.
Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade, Business and Tourism Principal Secretary Jeanie Mnyenyembe said in an interview that the proposed cooperation with Zambia could help Malawi to benefit from broader regional tourism circuits by linking its tourism products to the neighbouring country’s more established international tourism market.
She said the discussions were important for advancing regional tourism integration and strengthening joint tourism development efforts.
“The establishment of a Joint Technical Committee will provide a practical platform for our teams to work together on tourism development initiatives, knowledge sharing and joint marketing efforts,” said Mnyenyembe.
Zambia’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Evans Muhanga said stronger regional collaboration can help to unlock economic opportunities and increase tourist flows within the region.
“Through collaboration, we can unlock the vast tourism potential that our two countries possess,” he said.
The engagement comes at a time Malawi is positioning tourism as one of the pillars of economic growth under Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development strategy, amid efforts to diversify exports and reduce dependence on traditional crops such as tobacco.
The 2026 Malawi Government Annual Economic Report indicates that the performance of the tourism industry has not only regained momentum, but has also surpassed the K559.1 billion contribution recorded in 2019 prior to the pandemic.
The report further indicates that tourism’s contribution to Malawi’s GDP increased from K394.7 billion in 2020 during the Covid-19 downturn to about K1 trillion at the end of 2025.
On tourism employment, the data show that it has increased from 670 000 jobs in 2024 to 700 000 jobs at the end of 2025.
The Malawi Government is supporting the sector through the National Tourism Investment Masterplan, which contains 103 strategic infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening tourism growth and investment attraction.
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation Joseph Mwanamvekha is quoted as having said that the plan focuses on strategic infrastructure development across the country to boost the sector.
Malawi Tourism Council earlier said stronger regional integration can help Malawi attract more international tourists through multi-country tourism packages while improving investor confidence in the sector.
