MAPUTO RECEIVES OVER 300,000 TOURISTS ANNUALLY

More than 300,000 tourists visit the Mozambican capital of Maputo each year, bringing in revenue of about 95 million US dollars.This fact was revealed on Wednesday by the Minister of Tourism, Fernando Sumbana, during the launching of the Maputo Tourism Observatory.Sumbana, citing a study on the tourism value chain in the city of Maputo carried out by the Dutch non-governmental organisation SNV, said he believed that these figures could grow as a result of better services.According to the same data, the city of Maputo has a quarter of the country’s guest accommodation, with 9,500 beds.Sumbana expressed scepticism about national statistics that indicate that the annual income from tourism nationwide stands at 197 million dollars, and stated that there is a need to work rigorously throughout the country to improve the data. (Currently, many tourist resorts use bookings made outside the country to evade Mozambican taxes. The money the tourists pay for their reservations remains outside the country, and is not included in the revenue figures that the resorts declare for tax purposes in Mozambique).Regarding the Observatory, the Minister of Tourism said that it will be an instrument of extreme importance for the evaluation and development of tourism in the capital.“The Tourism Observatory in the city of Maputo aims to promote the monitoring, analysis, and dissemination of information on the evolution of tourism in a responsible and proactive manner, allowing for the identification of strengths, weaknesses, threats and tendencies, and offering the public and private sector, including potential investors, relevant information in time to be used in taking decisions”, explained Sumbana.Recently seminars have taken place in Maputo and Inhambane looking at the need for a better flow of information, which requires improving the collection, processing and analysis of data on hotels and tourism.“I would like to appeal to all businesses in the sector for better collaboration, systemisation and provision of data to the relevant institutions, because only then can we provide reliable and useful information for the management of the sector and demonstrate its impact”, he said.Sumbana revealed that the tourism sector will soon be monitored by a “satellite account for tourism”, an instrument that will enable the quantification of the supply and demand of tourism in the national accounts, through indicators and ratios that explain how tourism, in each of its forms, act in the national economy.He said that he believed that the joint work already initiated between various institutions, culminating in the creation of the Observatory, will transform the city of Maputo into a more competitive tourist destination in terms of attracting investment and increasing the flow of tourists.Achieve these objectives, Sumbana said that it is necessary to direct the efforts of all actors to promote the city’s historical and cultural heritage and the national cuisine, and monitor and improve the basic infrastructure to improve the image of the city.He also stressed the need to create new products in the suburban zones to diversify supply and allow for a better interchange between tourists and the local community.