The Malawi Tourism Marketing Consortium (MTMC) has reported an unprecedented growth in the country’s tourist industry in 2008.
Geo Group & Associates, MTMC’s publicity consultants, reported that the south eastern African country had seen a rise of over 40 per cent in visitor numbers, the opening of new lodges and the overall expansion and upgrading of accommodation and other facilities.
Majete Wildlife Reserve is now well stocked and open for game safaris.
Danforth Yachting has more than doubled its lodge accommodation. Mvuu Lodge has increased its capacity. The new Ntchisi Forest Lodge is proving popular. Ulendo’s fleet of vehicles has been massively expanded - and so the signs of Malawi’s coming of age as a tourist destination continue to be seen.
Feeding this growth, companies like Voyages Jules Verne have been the first to introduce regular scheduled holiday packages to Malawi, to be followed in 2009 by two other tourist industry giants. Up-market Audley Travel report a 63 per cent increase in their clients travelling to the country in 2008.
Demand continues to grow with forward bookings running at a previously unknown high level. There’s every sign that 2009 will see an even greater growth rate than 2008, says the MTMC/Geo Group report.
Robin Pope Safaris, one of the top photographic safari operators in Zambia, operates three small camps and two walking safaris units in the South Luangwa National Park. The latest Robin Pope Safaris lodge is Pumulaani luxury beach lodge which opened in July this year. Situated on the western side of the Nankumba Peninsula on the south end of Lake Malawi, it lies within the only national park in Malawi that incorporates the lake. This park, now a World Heritage Site, was established to protect the cichlid fish of the area.
Malawi Tourism can be found on stand AF4400.