The ambition to turn Mozambique into a leading tourist destination should go hand in hand with a challenge considered decisive: putting more Mozambican entrepreneurs and capital at the heart of the industry's development. This is the position defended by the National Tourism Development and Investment Agency (ANDITUR) and by the private sector, which are calling for a more significant participation of national operators in the country's main tourism developments.
“The best hotels and the best lodges in this country should be run by Mozambicans and belong to them. That is the great challenge we face,” said Hélder Jauana, chairman of the Board of Directors of ANDITUR, on the sidelines of a meeting with the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), held on Friday, 2 October, in Maputo.
The aspiration arises in a sector in which tourism potential contrasts with the obstacles that continue to constrain investment. Jauana acknowledged the existence of these limitations and argued that it is up to the State to create an environment that allows national operators to expand their presence in the industry.
“There are several constraints on tourism investment in Mozambique and we, as the State, must work to remove these barriers,” he declared.
The meeting between ANDITUR and the CTA sought, precisely, to bring the two institutions closer together and to establish a coordination mechanism to identify the difficulties faced by investors and find answers to the problems that constrain business activity in tourism.
For Hélder Jauana, the country's natural and tourism potential is not enough in itself. The next step is to turn existing resources into concrete investments, a task in which he assigns the business community a decisive role.
“From the potential that Mozambique has, we need to move to delivery. And those who deliver are the business community,” he said.
On the private sector side, the CTA's vice-president for Tourism, Salma Kamalissouf, believes that the creation of ANDITUR could open a new front for strengthening the position of Mozambican entrepreneurs within the tourism industry.
“This agency is here to position our entrepreneurs within the tourism sector,” she said.
Kamalissouf also argued for a clearer approach to the tourism development model to be adopted in the country's different regions. In her view, each destination should have its own strategy, accompanied by a definition of the market segments to be developed.
“We need to define, at national level, what type of tourism we want in each tourist destination,” she maintained.
The official acknowledged, however, the importance of foreign investment for the sector's growth, but argued that the entry of external capital must produce benefits for Mozambique and help to raise the quality of the national tourism offering.
It is within this framework that the CTA views the Mozambique Tourism Summit, an international tourism conference scheduled for November in Inhambane, as a platform for giving visibility to the projects of national investors and bringing them closer to the investment opportunities that may be generated through ANDITUR.
The expectation is that the event will place Mozambican entrepreneurs in front of concrete opportunities in a sector considered strategic and with the potential to attract new investment.
The meeting between ANDITUR and the CTA, held as part of the new agency's first institutional contacts with the private sector, ended with the establishment of technical teams tasked with following matters relating to the business environment and the development of national tourism.
Created by decree of the Council of Ministers on 25 May, ANDITUR has the mandate to coordinate and promote tourism development, facilitate investment and help position Mozambique as a leading tourist destination in regional and international markets.
