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 ‘Malawi not doing it right on tourism’

The Malawi Government is not doing it right on tourism, a sector that has potential to spur the country’s economic growth, immediate past chairperson of Sunbird Tourism Limited, Leonnard Chikadya, has said.

Chikadya, who has been in the tourism industry for 15 years, said government has overstayed its welcome in tourism and tourism destinations within the country.

Lake Malawi is one of the popular tourist attraction areas in Malawi
Lake Malawi is one of the popular tourist attraction areas in Malawi

“We witnessed their reluctance to accept that they could not run a national airline. They have made a disastrous mess of national wildlife parks and then there is Sunbird [which is] slowly but surely is falling apart because its owners won’t put money into the company,” he said in an interview in Blantyre on Friday.

The Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)-listed hotel chain is 71 percent owned by the Malawi Government, 12.56 percent by the public and 16.44 percent by Noel Hayes from United Kingdom (UK).

“In effect, until abuse of power, corruption and politicians shamelessly feathering their own nests is stamped out, there is no hope that tourism is ever going to become a significant contributor to the economy.  The decision-makers simply don’t care,” said Chikadya, who said he is frustrated like any business leader would be in the country.

In 2014, tourism contributed 4.5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and provided 3.8 percent of all jobs, according to the National Statistical Office (NSO).

Even more worrying to Chikadya is the hotel grading system that aims at putting the country’s tourism establishments at par with the international standards.

He criticised the grading system and the results thereof, saying they do not reflect what is on the ground for some of them.

Chikadya, who bid farewell at Sunbird annual general meeting (AGM) in Blantyre and has been succeed by managing director of FDH Bank Phillip Madinga, said the tourism industry is also dogged by known problems.

He cited “expensive hotels and meals, as the result of punitive import duties and taxes, bilharzias and malaria threats, lack of decent accommodation establishments on the lakeshore due to lack of government initiatives to attract investment into the tourism sector and the lack of infrastructure provisions by government over the years.”

Chikadya, who is also managing director of Times Group, said another dent is that of making foreigners to apply for visas to enter into the country and also the filth that characterise sanitation facilities in the airports.

“When they [tourists] arrive, Chileka [International Airport in Blantyre] speaks for itself. We must be the laughing stock of Africa for international travellers while KIA [Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe] arrivals are hopelessly inadequate for handling luggage and falling into disrepair. So whatever tourists do come here, having had a wonderful time, their last memories are not good, to say the least.”

Chikadya suggested that what is needed is to woo potential hospitality investors with tax incentives and other initiatives needed to get them on board.

He also called for the need to engage a world class public relations or marketing company to sell the country and its tourists attraction sites to the world.

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