Good afternoon. The launch of a two-day tourism conference in the city of Vilankulo today invites the reflection that tourism in Mozambique is a mixed bag. On the one hand, parts of the sector, notably wildlife tourism, are growing fast. Safari tourism is booming in Maputo province, in Gorongosa National Park in the central province of Sofala, and in Niassa province (although recent insurgent attacks in Niassa have wiped out tourism there for this year’s tourism season). Visitors to Niassa and Gorongosa are efficiently flown to their resorts from international airports. The airport at the seaside resort town of Vilankulo processes tourists efficiently, as they form the vast majority of its passenger traffic.
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But other aspects of the tourism offer could be improved. Tourists arriving at airports with more mixed passenger traffic, such as Maputo, the busiest airport, face a potential adventure in trying to get a tourism visa. Migration authorities can be inconsistent and uncooperative. Tourists travelling by road, mostly South African tourists who have driven into the country down the N4 highway, face further drama. Highways are infested with police who will stop traffic on any excuse in their hunt for bribes.
