SADC TOURISM MINISTERS MEETING HELD IN PROTEA RYALLS HOTEL, BLANTYRE,
MALAWI ON 21^ST APRIL, 2010

Ministers of Tourism in the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) region met on 21^st April, 2010 to
review the state of tourism and programmes in the region.  Tourism Ministers, Deputy Ministers and
Senior Officials in tourism came from Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.

The recent landslide re-election of President Armando Guebuza bodes well for business and tourism in Mozambique.
Guebuza, whose Freedom Liberation Movement also took 76,4% of seats in parliament, is considered to be pro-foreign investment with a stable and decisive government  supporting him.
The country is expected to build on the 6% economic growth of 2008 as Guebuza’s promises of simplifying investment laws, cutting red tape and continued market liberalisation come to fruition.

ZIMBABWE’s
ministry of environment and tourism has designated certain areas/regions in the
country as Tourism Development Zones (TDZ) to lure investors.

The major objective is to promote tourism development and ultimately
economic development in areas with high potential in tourism but which are
underdeveloped.

The boundary fence between Wildernis Safaris Namibia and the NamibRand Nature Reserve has been dropped in a bid to better manage environmental concerns.

 "To ensure survival in hyper-arid and ecosystems such as the Namib, large open areas are essential to permit seasonal movements in response to rainfall in the region", said the Namibia Tourism Board in a newsletter last week.  

 The land is currently being rehabilitated.

A new organisation, Wild Zambezi, has been established to revive tourism in the Kariba and Zambezi Valley areas of Zimbabwe.
 

The concession to run the tourist facilities in the park has been award to Wilderness Safaris by the Malawi Department of NationalParks and Wildlife. This includes the well-known Chelinda Lodge. Camp Chelinda is expected to open shortly but the lodge will becompletely rebuilt and is only expected to open in July 2010. Horse safaris across the plateau are also expected to be revived. Nyika was Malawi’s first designated national park and remainsits largest at over 3 000sq km. “The Nyika Plateau is of undoubted biological   mportance,” says the company.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks wishes to inform all tis valuable customers that it does no longer accept payments of par kees at entrance gates to all our national parks and game reserves with effect 1st January, 2009.

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Construction of the new Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village, located close to the historic Thaba Bosiu mountain in Maseru, Lesotho, is expected to be completed by July.

It will comprise chalets, a restaurant and bar, curio shop, botanical garden, museum, conference venue, amphitheatre and a cultural village showing ancient Basotho life.  It will showcase Basotho traditional food, clothes and various dances and songs with a statue of Moshoeshoe I, founder and king of the Basotho natoin nearby.

Swaziland Tourism Authority launched a 2010 website showcasing the country's soccer experience.  The site features technical information regarding accommodation, security, cuisine, a quick guide on Swaziland and main itineraries.

 
To view this site click on  www.2010swaziland.com