Malawi has developed a comprehensive tourism investment masterplan aimed at guiding investments in tourism and other related sectors. The investment masterplan provides a clear and concise 20-year tourism investment strategy to direct product development and diversification, infrastructure development, manpower development and equitable tourism investment across the country’s tourist regions. It also highlights the national priority projects for implementation by Government as well as the private sector.
Meanwhile, President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has called on investors both local and foreign to take advantage of the investment opportunities presented in the masterplan. The president said increased investments in tourism sector has the potential to drive economic growth in the country. He said the plan is a perfect tool in achieving some of the objectives set out in the country’s development agenda- Malawi 2063 Vision.
President Dr Lazarus Chakwera said:
‘The tourism sector is key in helping the country achieve the agenda 2063. Currently, the sector is already contributing significantly to the country’s economic growth by among other things generating direct investments and supporting the development of small businesses. So my government is already making strides towards creating an enabling environment that will drive more investments into this sector.’
‘Malawi is endowed with beautiful mountains, wildlife, beaches and many others. If we package these well and make them marketable, we could benefit more from the tourism sector than what we are getting at the moment. So this masterplan is a perfect tool to turn our country’s tourism potential into real opportunity for employment, business and foreign revenue.’
Minister of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife, Dr Michael Usi said:
‘This masterplan provides a guide on how we will be managing the tourism sector going forward so that we are competitive on the global market. It will also unlock Malawi’s tourism sector, to be relevant to both local and international markets.’
Chief Executive Officer for MITC, Paul Kwengwere said:
‘As MITC our role now is to market the opportunities presented in this masterplan to both local and foreign investors. We were already promoting opportunities for investment in tourism sector but this document now provides detailed information on specific opportunities that investors might be interested in. So this is an addition to our marketing and promotion tools besides the investment compendium that we normally use..’
The tourism masterplan has at least 103 projects featuring key tourism products of natural resources, lake, wildlife, people, scenery and landscape.