Mozambique Tourism development overview

Mozambique: Tourism development overview
A brief history of tourism in Mozambique
Mozambique was a popular destination for tourists before 1975 as visitors from South Africa and surrounding landlocked countries were drawn to the beach resorts (King, 2007). At this time, it was believed that Mozambique had the status as one of the most preferred tourism destinations among South African tourists (Newitt, 1995). However, Mozambique became independent in 1975, through the struggle of local communities and campaigns initiated against the Portuguese by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Pereira, 2011). In the years thereafter, post-independent Mozambique faced a civil war that left the country completely destroyed (Newitt, 1995). The civil war lasted 16 years (between 1976 and the mid-1990s) which led to major decline in tourism as Mozambique was regarded as an unsafe place for tourists (Mubai, 2006). Lastly, it is important to note during the decade prior to the civil war, there were substantial growth in the tourism sector which almost entirely ceased due to the initiation of the war in Mozambique (Pereira, 2011). During pre-independence the main attractions were the beautiful beaches, the flora and fauna as well as the vibrant environment offered by the urban centres (Mubia, 2006). Nonetheless, despite the richness of culture and fauna of the country, sun and sea tourism were the most popular types of tourism practiced in Mozambique (Pereira, 2011).
The 1990’s marked the end of the civil war and soon after the newly elected government recognized tourism as a sector well suited to maximizing the entrance of capital and generation of jobs, strengthening regional development and distributing the respective benefits to all the zones of the country (Pereira, 2011).By 2000, tourism was again considered the fastest growing sector of the Mozambican economy (Rylance, 2008). The recovery from the civil war and the incorporation of tourism into the government agenda promoted tourism as a tool for poverty alleviation and economic development. In addition the policies and laws introduced by the Mozambican government incorporated principles of conservation and promised benefits to local communities (Pereira, 2011).
Present status of tourism in Mozambique
Mozambique is presently a country with tremendous potential for tourism development and the government has promoted the beaches, coral reefs, marine life, conservation areas, mountains and culture as major tourist attractions (Strategic Plan for the Development of Tourism in Mozambique, 2004). The combination of pristine areas, tropical beaches and sunny landscapes, the diverse cultural and cosmopolitan city life and a rich and diversified flora and fauna make Mozambique a fascinating country to visit and all of these elements attracted the attention of the government to consider tourism as one of the main driving forces of poverty reduction and economic development in Mozambique (Pereira, 2011).
Tourism industry growth in Mozambique
In 2002, according to MITUR (2010), Mozambique attracted 900 000 tourists who contributed 1.2% of the GDP and during this year tourism became the third highest investment sector in Mozambique with an investment of US$ 1.3 billion (Mubai, 2006). By 2005, there was a 37% increase in growth in the tourism industry, which was significantly the highest recorded growth rate globally for the year and accounted for nearly 2% of Mozambique’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Johnstone, 2011). Furthermore, the tourism sector in Mozambique grew by 16% in 2009 and there were recorded investments in the order of 222.5 million Euros (TIM, 2010).
Moreover, The World Trade Organization has suggested that Mozambique will become an exciting and vibrant tourism destination in Africa which will welcome approximately four million visitors per year by 2025 (Sumbana, 2008). Lastly, in terms of growth and the overall progress of tourism development during the past decade, one should mention that Mozambique has shown remarkable improvement in terms of growth and development in the following areas:
Revenue
Visitor arrivals
Endorsed investments
Capacity to provide accommodation (MITUR, 2010).
Importance of external investment
The single most important factor which influenced the uncontrolled growth in tourism during recent years is a direct result of external investment into Mozambique Johnstone (2011). External tourism investment lead to and created opportunities for the expansion of accommodation as well as improved the quality of the tourism establishments in Mozambique (Sumbana, 2008).
Currently there are three predominant and very important tourism groups who contribute significantly towards investing money in Mozambique and they are as follows:
Rani Resorts (Emirates)
Pestana Group (Portugal)
Visabeira Groups (Portugal) (Sumbana, 2008).
Movement of visitors and tourists into Mozambique
The following section will briefly outline two of the factors that facilitate the movement of tourists and visitors into Mozambique.
Introduction of the visa at the border:
At present tourists and visitors can obtain visas at the border or airport respectively, which greatly facilitates movement of tourists into the region. It is important to note that Mozambique is the first country in Southern Africa to introduce this (Pereira, 2011).
The construction of the Maputo Development Corridor:
The Maputo Development Corridor, runs from Witbank in Mpumalanga (South Africa) to Maputo (Mozambique) and allow for the majority of foreign tourists to enter by road, which accounts for approximately 88% of all tourism in the country (Mubai, 2006; Jones, 2008).
Overview of key role players
Tourism institutions in Mozambique are involved at a national, provincial and local level (Pereira, 2011). Therefore, in order to provide an overview of the overall progress of tourism industry in Mozambique it deemed necessary to briefly describe the institutions and their respective roles and responsibilities (Pereira, 2011).
National level:
At the national level, there are three main institutional structures that influence and guide tourism development in Mozambique, namely:
Ministry of Tourism (MITUR)
National Tourism Fund
Centre for Promotion of Investment (Pereira, 2011)
Ministry of Tourism (MITUR); the MITUR was established for the purpose of tourism development in Mozambique. Some of its main objectives are to promote tourism in Mozambique and to alleviate poverty by means of creating industry employment opportunities (Pereira, 2011). In addition, other key objectives of the MITUR are to boost foreign investment and exchange earnings, reduce environmental pressures (Pereira, 2011). Furthermore, The National Tourism Fund (Fundo Nacional do Turismo) was created in order to promote and finance tourism development and its role is to ensures that the benefits of tourism are felt at a local level through training and financial contribution of infrastructure for tourism (Pereira, 2011). Whilst, it is the responsibility of the Centre for Promotion of Investment to encourage private and foreign investors to benefit local communities in the area in which they want to invest (Pereira, 2011).
Provincial level:
At provincial level, there are two main bodies that represent the government, namely:
Municipal council
Provincial directorate of tourism (Pereira, 2011)
Some of the objectives of the Municipal Council and the Provincial Directorate of Tourism is to enforce law, create and improve new projects (Pereira, 2011).
Local level:
At local level, there a three key role players which are important for the development of tourism, namely:
Community-Authorities
Non-Governmental Organizations
Private sector (Pereira, 2011)
It is important to note that in Mozambique traditional authority holds the local power and is mainly responsible for law and order (Johnstone, 2011). In addition, accountability of the traditional authorities has been an important issue, especially concerning the increased number of investments in the tourism sector (Johnstone, 2001). Of concern to sustainable and responsible tourism development practices are that traditional authorities have a history of benefiting from external investment, which were encouraged by the Portuguese (Tanner, 2006). Therefore, traditional authorities have played the role of “gate keeper” to new tourism investors as they are capable of bringing local community support (Pereira, 2011). Nonetheless, the process of consultation with the community is not specified in legislation and on numerous occasions dishonest investors have used tensions between the community and local structures for personal gain (Johnstone, 2011).
Key tourism policies:
To further provide the reader with a better understanding of the progress of tourism in Mozambique this essay will highlight key policies that have been instrumental in developing tourism in Mozambique.
Tourism Policy and Implementation Strategy (2003)
The main objective of this policy is to promote and develop tourism as a driving force for the growth of economy, whilst creating employment and providing services to local communities with the focus on the growth and development of the tourism industry (Pereira, 2011).
In addition, a further significant importance of this legislation, is the fact that it recognizes the value of conservation areas in the development of the tourism industry (Pereira, 2011). Moreover, the policy emphasizes that tourism plays an vital role dressing poverty through means of interaction and commitment between partners such as “the state and government at national-, provincial- and district-levels, local government, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, local communities, tourists (national, regional, international), financial institutions, international cooperation agencies, the press and the public” (Pereira, 2011).
The Tourism Law (2004)
This legislation promotes sustainable tourism development and aims to ensure that tourism investments are fully integrated within the area in which they are located (Law 4/2004 Art. 17). Of further importance is that it states that tourism should continue as an activity that is based on private sector tourism-related businesses (Pereira, 2011).
The National Tourism Code of Conduct
This code was developed with the purpose of maximizing economic and social benefits, whilst minimising the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and culture (Pereira, 2011). It is important to mention that this code aims to ensure that the values and customs of the local communities are respected and that they benefit from the opportunities created by tourism (Pereira, 2011). Therefore this code strives to ensure that local community resources are protected for present and future generations (Pereira, 2011). Thus, plainly stated it is a way to ensure responsible practices by investors towards local communities “which ensures that they benefit from tourism and or not impacted negatively by activities that are imposed on them by local or foreign investors” (Pereira, 2011).
Strategic Plan for Tourism Development 2004-2013
This plan sets out and identify priority areas, defines markets and products areas for investment in the tourism sector and focuses resources for the designated period (Pereira, 2011).
PARPA - Action Plan for Absolute Poverty Reduction
During the year 2001 the Mozambican government produced a framework for economic development called PARPA - Action Plan for Absolute Poverty Reduction (Républica de Moçambique, 2001). This action plan acknowledge as well as identify tourism as an important instrument to promote local economic development, growth and poverty alleviation, because it is a sector that is labour intensive and has the capacity to adapt to economic world crises (Jones and Ibrahimo, 2008). In relation to this essay it is important to note that PARPA also emphasize on the significance of natural resources such as pristine beaches and coral reefs as one of the main attractions for international tourism in Mozambique (Johnstone, 2011).
Types of tourism activities
Mozambique has all the ingredients to develop into an exciting tourism destination and its potential speaks for itself (Tourism Invest, 2004). Mozambique is one of the few countries that can offer the diversity of beach, eco-tourism and cultural products and boasts with a coastline which stretches for 2700 km along Indian Ocean that is home to an abundant coral reefs and marine life (Tourism Invest, 2004). Furthermore, its Conservation Areas covers over 15% of its surface with numerous mountains and wetlands (Tourism Invest, 2004). Therefore, Mozambique’s comparative advantage lies within its marine and terrestrial wildlife resource base (World Bank, 2006). In addition its historical and cultural heritage is still valid, even though wildlife was decimated during the civil war the country’s intriguing culture remains untouched (Tourism Invest, 2004; World Bank, 2006)

(Tourism Invest, 2004)
Thus, as mentioned above Mozambique’s key strengths lies in the “quality of its beach product, the exotic ambience and cultural profile of the country and in its wilderness areas with high bio-diversity” (Tourism Invest, 2004). The following table attempts to highlights Mozambique’s key strengths with are segmented into three predominant tourism “product lines” (Tourism Invest, 2004).
Mozambique’s key resource strengths are:
Blue product line Green product line Orange product line
“Quality of its beaches and coastal resources unique to southern Africa” “Diversity and quality of its natural and wildlife resources and the opportunities these provide for tourism development” “Cultural identity of Mozambique, determined by its heritage, people and history, that significantly differs from other countries in southern Africa” (Tourism Invest, 2004)
Most promising activities
Based upon the analysis of tourism trends and resource strengths of Mozambique the researcher can confidently list following tourism activities which are considered to be the most promising in Mozambique.
Diving
Deep Sea Fishing
Hunting, Birding
Eco-tourism
Adventure
High-yield ‘island’ tourism
Cultural Tourism (Tourism Invest, 2004)
Key source markets and tourism largest segments
The majority of international visitor arrivals in Mozambique are regional and it is well known that South Africa is Mozambique’s most important source market which accounts for the bulk of Mozambique’s regional tourists (Tourism Invest, 2004; World Bank, 2006). Thus, all segments and in particular the leisure segment is dominated by tourists from South Africa which are estimated to be +90% of the leisure market (Tourism Invest, 2004; World Bank, 2006). Nonetheless, it has been reported that fast growth rates for international tourists occur, specifically in the backpackers and in the up-market beach and island resort market (Tourism Invest, 2004).
The regional market has a specific interest in beach and water-sports related tourism, and on the other hand the Mozambican tourism authorities has identified international niche markets which shown an interest towards diving, deep-sea fishing and hunting and to a lesser extend bird-watching (Tourism Invest, 2004).
Therefore, “the demand for beach based leisure tourism stimulated the development of accommodation mostly along the southern coast, while more recently investors also show interest in pristine northern Mozambique, has both positive and negative impacts on the country and more specifically the local communities and the coastal areas/regions and habitats in which they live and sustain themselves (Tourism Invest, 2004).
Sharing of Coastal and Marine Resources
Historically and presently coastal tourism are regarded as the largest tourism segment in Mozambique (Pereira, 2011). In recent years coastal tourism development has sprawled and developed in a rapid and uncontrolled manner (Pereira, 2011). Therefore, as a result a high concentration people occur in coastal areas, which led to an increase in tourism linked business construction and its related infrastructure and facilities (Pereira, 2011). As a direct result thereof, in specific areas, there has been a vast decline in the agriculture and forestry sector which poses significant challenges relating to shortages of land and water resources as well as environmental impacts such as the destruction and damage to coastal dunes and mangrove vegetation (Pereira, 2011).
These destructive activities in combination with an increased pressure from coastal tourism as well as the growing demand for fish products can potentially result conflicts between interested parties as well as the over-exploitation of coastal and marine resources (Pereira, 2011). Lastly it is important to note that “although tourism provides a source of income for fisheries through the market for locally caught fish and seafood for the tourists and tourism establishments, the sustainability of the coastal and marine resources are at risk!” (Pereira, 2011).
Mass tourism model
Currently Mozambique’s government employ a tourism model which are closely associated with the conventional mass tourism where there is little attention is paid to local communities (Pereira, 2011). In addition, there are clear signs of little government support for community tourism development (Pereira, 2011). Furthermore, the Mozambican government are inexperienced and “lack the financial resources and capacity to promote development from both national and local government” (Pereira, 2011). Moreover, levels of foreign tourism business related ownership remains high which leads to a loss in profits for local communities as money gained through tourism businesses established in Mozambique is leaking to foreign countries (Pereira, 2011). “This so-called leakage, when the revenue generated by tourism in one country is lost to another country’s economy is substantial in Mozambique and is therefore a barrier for enhanced benefits reaching poor communities” (Rylance, 2008). Other factors which contribute to the loss of benefit sharing of tourism include the insecure land and resource tenure as well as the limited capacity within the local communities (Pereira, 2011). From a perspective of local entrepreneurs borrowing money for investment in tourism are costly and therefore investment by local entrepreneurs is minimal (Rylance, 2008).
Positive impacts
On a positive note, as mentioned previously, private and foreign investment has been a key toward the development of tourism in Mozambique and contributed to approximately 70% of tourism related the projects in Mozambique of which are predominantly South African owned establishments (Pereira, 2011). According to Pereira (2011), there are currently “few and isolated cases where local communities are benefiting more significantly from tourism”. In these cases it was recorded that resorts group create partnerships with the communities in which they operate. These tourism benefits which occur though benefit-sharing, have been realized under three main dimensions such as:
Economic
Social
Ecological (Pereira, 2011)
Economic dimension
Local communities receive earnings directly from employment and philanthropic actions as well as indirectly from selling and providing goods and services to the tourism sector (Pereira, 2011). Mostly these benefits were generated through tourism taxes and revenues from the community-based lodge that has generated small enterprises and infrastructural development in the community (Pereira, 2011).
Social and Ecological Dimensions
Empowerment, social cohesion, knowledge generation, the sharing of power and decision-making, and enhanced access to basic services (Pereira, 2011). Additionally, enhanced ecological awareness was identified as a key benefit from the different partnerships (Pereira, 2011).
The role of South Africa
Southern Africa has historically been known in international markets for its nature-based tourism and therefore tourism destinations within Southern Africa predominantly focus on wilderness, the ‘big-five’, eco-tourism and nature based experiences. However, as mentioned elsewhere, Mozambique is mostly a beach destination, and its nature based tourism potential largely remains untapped (Tourism Invest, 2004). Therefore, “linking into tourism patterns and flows of South Africa will be an essential strategy for Mozambique to reposition itself in the international tourism landscape” (Tourism Invest, 2004). According to Tourism Invest (2004) the Kruger National Park (South Africa) which are adjacent to the Mozambican border “is the best-known ecotourism brand in the world and many first time safari tourists choose Kruger to spot the so much sought for ‘big five’ (Tourism Invest, 2004). Thus, positioning southern Mozambique as an added destination to South Africa’s mainly wildlife based tourism experience is a key opportunity for both countries and the successful development and marketing of ‘bush-beach’ linkages will represent to many international tourists a ‘dream’ holiday, combining the finest of Africa’s wildlife with a world class tropical beach experience. (Tourism Invest, 2004)
Conclusion
The tourism sector in Mozambique has been to some extent been uncontrolled and therefore various social, economic and ecological problems have arisen. As a result the country faces numerous constraints for the successful development of a tourism sector (Tourism Invest, 2004). Nonetheless signs of “institutional strengthening, heavy investment in the sector for product development, infrastructure and marketing, coupled with the country’s distinguishing features has the potential to restore Mozambique’s tourism crown in southern Africa” (Tourism Invest, 2004).
References
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Republica de Moçambique. 2001. Action plan for the reduction of absolute poverty 2001- 2005. Republic of Mozambique.
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References: Johnstone, G.M. 2011. Mozambique marine and coastal resources study combined. Unpublished manuscript. Jones, S. & Ibrahimo, H. 2008. The contribution of tourism in Mozambique – present and future. http://www.tourisminvest.org/mozambique/index.html [25 October 2014]. King, B. 2007. The wonder country: Making New Zealand tourism. Tourism, Culture and Communication, 7(1): 83-84. Mubai, M Newitt, M. 1995. A history of Mozambique, Indiana University Press, Bloomington. Pereira, M. 2011. Sharing benefits from tourism in Mozambique: Case studies from Inhambane and Maputo Provinces. Unpublished MSc thesis, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Republica de Moçambique Rylance, A. 2008. Local economic development in Mozambique: An assessment of the implementation of tourism policy as a means to promote local economics. London: Earthscan. Republic of Mozambique. 2004. Strategic Plan for the Development of Tourism in Mozambique 2003-2008. Sumbana, F. 2008. Turismo em Moçambique e os desafios da integração SADC, Ministério do Turismo. http://www.aelpbrasil.com.br/Turismo%20em%20Mocambique%20desafios%20da%20integracao%20SADC .pdf> [25 October 2014]. Tanner, C. 2006. The effects of social capital on property rights: the case of tourism and artisanal fisheries in Mozambique. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Kings College, London. World Bank. 2006. The tourism sector in Mozambique: A value chain analysis. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEXPCOMNET/Resources/Mozambique_value_chain_2006_vol1.pdf [25 October 2014].