Malawi, Zimbabwe sign tourism pact
Governments of Malawi and Zimbabwe at the weekend signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at the development and promotion of tourism and related investments between the two countries.
Speaking during the signing ceremony which took place in the lakeshore district of Salima, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Walter Mzembi said the agreement will advance tourism sectors of the two economies, especially in the areas of promoting cultural heritage sites and sustainable handicraft production, tourism product development, collaboration in technical assistance and training of personnel.
“This MoU will provide further impetus for Zimbabwe and Malawi to work together in the joint promotion and development of tourism and this will hopefully create new opportunities. It’s my strong hope that our efforts will translate into an even stronger bond of friendship, transformative ideas and knowledge, twinning arrangements in marketing of our products and at the same time becoming a driving force towards sustainable tourism for the benefit of our people and the global community,” said Mzembi.
In this regard, Mzembi disclosed that his government has already initiated a draft plan of action which will guide the implementation of the pact.
“Tourism should be taken seriously because it’s contributing significantly to the revenues and job creation for many economies. In Zimbabwe, for instance, tourism ranks among the top four pillars of our economy alongside mining, agriculture and manufacturing and we are working towards growing a $5 billion tourism economy by 2020,” he stated.
Mzembi then called upon the two countries to embrace and fast track destination accessibility measures through visa liberalisation which will enable people to visit each other regularly and without hassles.
In his remarks, Malawi’s Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Kondwani Nankhumwa described the MoU as ideal and strategic given the already strong cultural, historical, political and economic relationship between the countries.
“In recent years there has been a growing trend in global and regional demand for new destinations which offer huge opportunities for our two countries; hence, this MoU will open up the regional market for intra and international tourism,” he said.
Nankhumwa also disclosed that tourism contributes about 7.8 percent to the country’s GDP and employs 140 000 people in direct employment and that from July this year, the sector is set to implement the Malawi 2020 Tourism Development Plan, an ambitious five year blueprint that will result in tourism’s contribution to GDP jumping to 15 percent and creating a further 100 000 jobs, doubling arrivals from strategic source markets of Europe, North America and South Africa.
The tourism MoU between the two countries had been under negotiations since 2011.
