Ministry of Tourism has expressed concern over failure by the Department of Immigration to implement a directive by President Lazarus Chakwera on waiving visa fees for nationals from key tourism markets.
In February this year, through his State of Nation Address, the Malawi Leader told the August House that as a means of maximizing forex generation, his administration has, with immediate effect, waived visa fees for nationals from countries like the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Madam Speaker, although Tourism is Malawi’s third foreign exchange earner after tobacco and tea, we are taking decisive steps to maximize its potential and increase its contribution to our GDP and forex generation. In particular, my Administration has adopted and is pursuing the following policies.
“The waiving, with immediate effect, of all Visa fees for nationals from the following key tourism markets: the United Kingdom; United States of America; the Netherlands; Germany; Australia; Belgium; Italy; France; Poland; Nordic Countries Norway, Finland, Sweden and future markets, including China, Russia, and Canada,” said Chakwera.
However, almost five months down the line, the responsible authorities are yet to implement the presidential directive, a development that has worried the ministry of tourism.
“Our expectations then that government waive some months ago therefore for those planning come to Malawi could have made decisions then in order to come to Malawi to go to other countries.
“But since the process is still ongoing, they made have made a decision to go elsewhere, so for us as a ministry, we see it as a loss of revenue for the country that’s why we get frustrated,” said Chancy Simwaka, Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism
But reacting to the concern, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Homeland Security responsible for Legal Steven Kayuni said technocrats are currently working on the processes regarding the presidential pronouncement.
He said: “Since the president’s pronouncement, it’s an issue that the technocrats are working on, and it’s a joint effort. There are ministries of finance, tourism, and homeland security.
“The technocrats have to find a way of implementing it, and it has to be the directive of the president, and it will have to be implemented because that’s the direction it has to take.”
Parliamentary committee on Industry, Trade, and Tourism chairperson Paul Nkhoma said there has been lack of coordination among relevant ministries, which has in turn delayed the whole process.
“Of course, there have been coordination problems between key authorities. These are the ministry of tourism, treasury, and homeland security. There were coordination issues that have delayed the implementation, but now they are resolving,” he observed.
According to tourism ministry, the tourism sector is contributing seven percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and since the pre-Covid-19 Malaŵi has seen around 600, 000 tourists coming into the country.
