Minister hopeful on tourism incentives

Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture Michael Usi says they are hoping to get Treasury’s approval for various incentives aimed at promoting the country’s tourism sector in line with the 20-year Tourism Investment Master Plan.

In a written response on Tuesday, the minister said his ministry is consulting to submit a comprehensive list of incentives to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to ensure full implementation of the Tourism Investment Master Plan.

Said Usi: “I am hopeful that this time around, to ensure full implementation of the Tourism Investment Master Plan, the incentive regime for the sector will   be more progressive.

“What my ministry will require for these operators to access the incentives is to ensure that they have a valid Tourism and Hotels Board Licence and are also paying the Tourism Levy.”

For new entrants, the minister said there is need for a Tourism Development Certificate or a project proposal reviewed by the ministry, which is obtainable within 14 working days.

He, however, decried the tendency of some of the operators who have abused the incentive schemes in the past.

Speaking in an interview in Blantyre on Monday, an official from the Malawi Tourism Council Innocent Kaliyati said he would have loved to see deliberate interventions from government to promote the sector for foreign exchange generation.

He urged Treasury to consider hotels, lodges and inns with less than 50 rooms to benefit from the duty exemptions available on furniture and furnishings and two new passenger carrying motor vehicles.

On her part, Yvonne Masikini, who works as a manager for Nalipiri Eco Resort in Mulanje, urged Treasury to consider removing value-added tax on tourism services for locals to promote domestic tourism.

She said: “Most Malawians don’t have disposable income to spend in hotels and tourism centres. And a lot of our revenues go towards tax obligations, thereby denying industry workers of descent earnings.”

The Malawi Government recognises tourism as a priority sector that can be used as a vehicle for economic growth and poverty alleviation as outlined in the national development plan the Malawi 2063 (MW2063).

To promote investments in the sector, which is touted as Malawi’s third foreign exchange earner after tobacco and tea and considered a catalyst for economic and social development, Treasury introduced a number of incentives.

They include free import excise and free value added tax on the importation of a number of goods.

Tourism contributes about 5.8 percent to the gross domestic product.