At 26 Mervis Mwai Maigwa has transformed her love for travel into a thriving tourism promotion business that exposes Malawi’s hidden gems to the world.
Simply called Travel with Mervis, the tour operations firm specialises in crafting personalised travel packages to ensure that Malawians have the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the Warm Heart of Africa.
This she does with determination to ensure that Malawians and foreigners experience the hidden beauty of a country that rarely features in the international news bulletins.
Mervis says her passion for travel emanates from her background as a daughter of a police officer who was exposed to routine transfers countrywide and her passion for environmental conservation, tourism and education.
She says: “My parents are police officers so we grew up moving from one police formation to another around the country. I took it as a privilege because it exposed me to different lifestyles and cultures.
“Later, travelling became part of me. It bought out the curiosity in me. l love to explore and learn new things. l later developed this into a profession, something that l had never imagined in the beginning.”
Mervis, who was trained as a teacher at Chiradzulu Teachers’ Training College, says her three years of voluntary work as a teacher in schools and civic educator in conservation projects served as a stepping stone to her current status.
A holder of a degree in diplomacy and international relations, Mervis had a stint in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a foreign service officer.
But she never stopped her frequent travels.
“Because l like travelling, people thought l was rich, so l wanted to prove them wrong. l wanted to show them that it’s possible to travel to various destinations with minimal resources,” she says.
Mervis says she takes travel as one way of showing patriotism.
“We should be patriotic to know our country much better. This has been the motivation behind Travel with Mervis, promotion of domestic tourism,” says Mervis.
Despite veering off the ‘normal’ course that is often taken by people that pass through corridors of a teacher’s training college, Mervis says she is still a teacher at heart, but in a different sense.
“I may not be teaching in a classroom, but I use various platforms to teach people about the beauty of our country, how they can travel on a budget and why it’s essential to preserve these places for future generations,” says Mervis.
She says her teaching background and knowledge in diplomacy and international relations have contributed to her career progression.
Says Mervis: “I wanted to build my skills in this field and saw it necessary to seek guidance from people who have been the field for so long.
“I was privileged to meet Innocent Kaliati, a seasoned tour operator, to mentor me. Having a mentor like Innocent has been invaluable. He is someone I turn to when I lose my sense of direction or when I feel conflicted about the next step.”
For her, it’s not just about having the passion to travel the length and breadth of the country but about equipping herself with the right knowledge. This desire to strive for perfection has seen her pursuing further training.
“I attended an incubation programme at Mzuzu University for four months, where I earned a certification in tourism business management. l learned everything from running tourism operations to managing the business side tourism services,” she says.
A passionate environmentalist, Mervis is one of the key players in the Mudi River Restoration Project, which collects waste from the river and turns it into useful products while restoring the river’s natural beauty.
‘We can’t promote tourism without taking care of the environment. Since most of tourism attractions in Malawi are lakes, rivers, forests and mountains,” she says.
She bemoans the level of pollution and wanton cutting down of trees that is taking away the country’s beauty.
“If we boost our tourism sites and our environment, we will maintain the beauty of our country. This will eventually increase traffic for domestic and international tourists,” says Mervis.
The passionate hiker, who has scaled the heights of most of the country’s mountains, including Mulanje’s Sapitwa Peak, uses her position as a personal assistant and adviser to the Minister of Tourism to provide valuable insights into the country’s tourist destinations.
“Recently, we organised a hike to Mulanje Mountain with Minister of Tourism, Honourable Vera Kamtukule. She is the first female minister to go up to Sapitwa. We believe it’s essential for our leaders to experience firsthand what we are promoting. This is one of the marketing strategies we employed so that the minister will sell what she has experienced,” she says.
Mervis says her recruitment in the Ministry of Tourism is a testament of how passion and determination can take one to places and dine with people one never imagined.
“When l was selected to attend the Mandela Fellowship, l was so excited it was the best day of my life since l knew it was step further in enhancing my business skills,” she says.
Mervis was selected under the leadership business track to enhance her skills in leadership and business.
“The fellowship has helped me to network. There were participants from over 20 African countries. This means touring African countries we will be easy because I have a network in those countries,” she says.
Mervis says she is already planning an exchange visit with a Zimbabwean contact she met during the fellowship.
“There was a certain lady from Zimbabwe, we were in the same class. We are planning to take Malawians to Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans to Malawi,” she says.
Mervis says the fellowship helped her to understand her strengths as well as weaknesses.
“I learnt how to bring out an international appeal in my business. I now understand that business is not about money but people. If you take care of the people, money will come. It really matters how you treat people,” she says.
Mervis says her long-term plan for her travel business involves incorporating corporate social responsibility by training young women who are passionate about tourism to take up tour guiding, which is often considered a male-dominated field, as a career.
“Through this initiative, I will be creating employment opportunities for these young women. I also want to expand my business to other countries using the connections I made during the Mandela Fellowship,” she says.
Is this job not too involving?
“Balancing my personal life with work has always been challenging, I often get caught up in the demands of the business. However, I always ensure to rest when necessary for the sake of my health,” she says.
As she packs her travelling bags and fastens her shoes, Mervis is calling you to join her in making Malawi known as tourist destination.
