Dan Bywell

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NEWS LETTER

Why tourism statistics, information matter for your businesses?

Tourism is a multi-billion-dollar industry for Malawi. According to published reports, for example in 2019, total domestic tourism spending was estimated at MK204.3 billion and total contribution to GDP was estimated at MK435.2 billion. After the emergency of Covid ther

gencies and the general public who all work together to help attract tourists to and within Malawi and develop the industry. This article provides an overview of Malawi’s tourism industry and information about Malawi tourism data and source markets. It provides valuable information starter pack for those both contemplating to start a tourism business and already running a business that primarily serves interests of players in the tourism value chain.

e was a slump but quickly started to recover such that in 2020 the total contribution of the sector was estimated at MK412.4 billion. Tourism is therefore regarded as a vital industry for our three regions and many districts within.

Malawi’s tourism industry is made up of a network of stakeholders, including (but not limited to) tourism businesses, industry associations, government a

Why you should have an interest in Tourism data and statistics?

Information about visitors and tourism trends can be a great help in planning and operating your tourism business in Malawi. For example, you can use current research and data to:

How can you find/access Malawi Tourism Data?

The National Statistics Office  jointly with the Ministry responsible for Tourism produces annual tourism reports which give an overview of visitors to Malawi and accommodation utilization. The sources of data for compiling such reports are the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Department of Tourism. Data from Department of Immigration and Citizenship is obtained from non-residents at points of ex

it whereas data for accommodation utilization is collected by Department of Tourism from accommodation enterprises. The reports provide the information on Departures of international visitors by age, sex distribution, country of residence, continent of residence, purpose of entry, mode of transport, length of stay, type of accommodation used, expenditures, room and bed occupancy.

The Ministry responsible for Tourism whose mandate is to develop, regulate and promote tourism industry produces/processes tourism statistics on accommodation utilization, regional/zonal and specialized reports for Malawi’s tourism industry which may include time series data for visit

ation and expenditure. Additionally, jointly with NSO, the Ministry conducts surveys, such as the Malawi Domestic and Outbound Tourism Survey MDOTS which asks both domestic and outbound visitors about their:

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs whose mandate is to formulate economic and fiscal policies, also produces Annual Economic Reports wh

ich highlight the performance of tourism sector by looking at contribution to GDP, Capital investment, contribution to employment and visitor exports.

Other sources:

There are other sources of tourism data that you can utilize to get the specific information you may want. These may include commissioning independent surveys, both online and offline, in order to address specific needs of your businesses. If not sure where to start from, you can contact me for assistance.

Malawi Tourism Markets: Where does Malawi get visitors/tourists from? – Source markets

Malawi Tourism Source Markets are grouped into three broad categories which are; Domestic Market (residents within Malawi), Regional Market (Countries within African continent) and International/Long-haul Market (Countries outside Africa Continent). Out of this categorization, markets are further subcategorized into different groups (primary/key source markets, or secondary source markets) depending on various factors such as number of international visitors they generate to Malawi, amount of revenues/receipts the markets produce. I will talk about this in detail in a later post.

Domestic Market

One of the biggest source markets for Malawi tourism is the domestic market. This market comprises all people residing in Malawi. These include citizens in all districts from Chitipa to Nsanje, the expatriate community and all individuals working in the country – (including citizens of other countries).

In terms of business volumes, according to the Malawi Domestic and Outbound Tourism Survey, in 2019 the Domestic market produced 258,329, 485 domestic trips of which 255,479,485 (98.9%) were overnight and 2,850,000 (1.1%) were same day trips. This segment generated an estimate total of MK204.3 billion.

Regional Market

This is another source of market for Malawi Tourism and it includes all countries from the African continent. According to the Annual tourism reports trends show that the regional market leads in generating international visitors/travellers numbers to Malawi. For example, in 2019 Malawi received 978,327 international visitors, out of which 765,000 (about 78%) were from four top African countries which include; Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, from highest to lowest.

International/Long-haul Market

The international or Long-haul Market is another important market source category for Malawi Tourism. As mentioned, this consist of all countries outside the African continent. It is an interesting market that if we go by their dynamics. One of the interesting things is that although this market generates relatively low numbers of international visitors (when compared to regional market), the revenue it generates way surpasses the total generated by the regional market. So if you are with me, what are some of the international source markets for Malawi tourism? Any guesses?

I hope you enjoyed this article. If you think information contained in can help someone you know, then why not share with them? Follow my social media channel, Facebook, Linked In to get updates on my new posts. Any feedback you may wish to provide contact me.

 

Cheers 🙂

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