Poor road network, unfriendly border crossings and high prices of hotels and restaurants have emerged as some of the factors still hampering tourists attraction to countries such as Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This is highlighted in a report by Wildwood Motorcycle Tours Southern Africa, an organisation which facilitates road travels of tourists to East Africa through Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania.
Mostly, the route from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana passes through Victoria Falls, Binga and Kariba in Zimbabwe; Lusaka, Petauke, Chipata in Zambia; Senga Bay, Nkhata Bay, Livingstonia in Malawi and Mbeya, Ringa, Dodoma and Zanzibar in Tanzania.
Quoting experiences of the tourists that used the route in 2024, the report, titled ‘Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania–Big African Adventure’, highlighted mobility challenges in Malawi and other countries apart from Tanzania.
It said poor road network and ‘unfriendly and overpriced’ border crossings in all countries except Tanzania are the main factors affecting tourists’ traffic for the route.
Reads the report in part quoting one tourist: “A destroyed road network in all but Tanzania, trailing the bikes we destroyed our trailers and ended up shipping the bikes back to South Africa at great expense.
“My advice to wannabe visitors is to fly into Malawi or Tanzania and rent a bike or car to get around. Without the uncertainty and chaos of border crossings, planning is simple and although a bit pricey these are beautiful countries to visit.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Malawi Institute of Tourism head of travel and tourism Dennis Magodi described the country’s road network as the biggest challenge threatening the sector’s growth.
He said: “Although tourism is part of the government agriculture, tourism and mining [ATM] strategy, little has been seen on tourism as most tourism destinations remain hard-to-reach due to poor road network.
“For instance, during the rainy season, it is not possible for tourists to visit Manchewe Waterfalls in Livingstonia, Rumphi despite beautiful and historic aspects found at the falls.”
A travel itinerary expert Innocent Kaliati of Orbis DMC agreed with the report on the lagged pandemic effects, which he said would take some time for the sector to fully recover.
“Malawian operators need to position themselves as green businesses focusing more on sustainable tourism and serious about health and safety, then traffic will come,” he said.
Through the ATM strategy, the government wants to invest in tourism and open up the sector for more foreign tourists, which could boost its capacity as one of the country’s main foreign exchange earners.
Meanwhile, Malawi has improved its rank on openness to visitors from other African countries, an indication that visitors are now entering the country without restrictions, courtesy of the visa policy changes, according to published data from the 2024 Africa Visa Openness Index.
Data from World Travel and Tourism Council indicates Malawi generated $39.4 million (about K70 billion) in 2019 from international visitor spending, but the earnings dropped to $35.5 million (about K62 billion) in 2023.
Projections further show that this year, Malawi could generate $42.9 million (about K75 billion)from international visitor spending, according to the data.
However, the earnings are far below what Zimbabwe at $215.1 million (about K377 billion), Zambia at $901 million (about K1.6 trillion) and Mozambique at $327 million (about K573 billion) generated in 2023.
