Tourism Development in Mozambique - Essay Example

Country Paper Mozambique is one of the common tourist destinations in the country. However, as with most countries, it has faced its share hurdle in promoting tourism. This paper’s focal point is to adeptly study tourism development in Mozambique. Mozambique sits on an area of 80,000 square kilometers. To its north are Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. It is east of Zimbabwe and North of South Africa and Swaziland. The majority of the country is in a low plateau covered with grassland. The coastline’s area totals down to 2500 kilometers squared. The country has 25 rivers amongst which the Zambezi is by far the largest. The country is endowed with a number of minerals such as emerald, iron, copper, bauxite and gold. The temperatures along the coastline, for the most part of the year are usually high. The interior is usually warm even during the cool seasons that come in between April and September. The country has an estimated population of aboput24, 692,144 of which the Maku Lomwe of the north accounts for more than half. The country has over 9 ethnic groups. The larger demographic of the population is between the ages of 25 to 54 with females accounting 3,553,256 for while males account for 3,113,095. The major religions are Roman Catholics (28.4%) and Muslims (17.9%). Two political organizations; Frelimo and Renamo dominate the country, though allowing of multi–party democracy. As of 2013, the Gross Domestic Product stood at 15.63 Billion dollars with 25.83 Million people living under or dangerously close to the poverty line. The per capita income, in the same period stood at $605.5. As of 2013, statistics illustrated that domestic tourism accounted for 7.2% of Mozambique’s economic growth. The country’s population is not as indulgent in tourism because they are focused more on development through agriculture. In the same period, international tourism only brought in 6.11% of the economic development. This could be attributed to low levels of tourism promotion. The infrastructural development is substantially low and is rated amongst the worst in the world. In light of this, there country’s government has taken measures to try to improve this. Notably, the development of infrastructure is directly linked to the success of tourism. $17 Billion has been invested in pipeline development as a bid to improve economic growth. Mozambique has 7700 hotel beds that register only 40% occupancy rate. The country is challenged with access to land for hotel development in terms of speed and availability for access. Notably, over half of the developed hotels and restaurants are situated in the capital, Maputo. There is very low use of domestic air transport due to its expense; the main means is road usage. Flights into the country are easily accessible courtesy of the main four airlines LAM Mozambique Airlines, South African Airways, SA Air Link and SA Express. The flight price has been termed as relatively cheap by Western economists. Resources and Barriers Physical Elements Climate The average temperature for the country stands at 28 degrees Celsius. This climate has supported tourism overtime because Westerners usually search for its kind during cold seasons in their homeland. The fact that the temperature is constant for most of the year has served as a good attraction for the western market. In view of this climate has been a resource rather than a barrier. Landscape The low plateau that covers, most of Mozambique has also been resourceful. It is suitable for travel throughout the country land. The one thing factor that has undermined is that Landscape should go hand in hand with infrastructure; in this regard, Mozambique has not been successful. Natural Disasters These have acted as a barrier for tourism development. They have been noted to occur one too many times making it a genuine concern for economists. The year 2000 was marked by heavy floods that saw the destruction of a lot of property and lives (“Awaken Mozambique Organisation”). The following year was marred by severe drought. These two have been the worst incidences of natural calamities recorded in Mozambique’s history. Infrastructural development Investments that have been allocated to this sector have by corruption on a regular basis. This has stalled major projects that have been put in by both local and international bodies. Furthermore, the incidence of civil war in the time frame spanning 2002- 2013 have destroyed the little progress made in the aspect in question (“Awaken Mozambique Organisation”). Cultural Elements Language The main languages spoken within the country – are Emakhuwa, Xichangana, Portugese, Elomwe , Cisena, and Echuwabo . In light of this, foreigners, unless they speak Portuguese (this is only helpful in a small capacity), find it difficult to interact with the natives. This makes navigation within the country extremely difficult. Pop Culture This aspect has been direly helpful to the Mozambican economic development. Mozambican agencies have used social media as a means of advertising the different tourism opportunities in Mozambique. This has also been used to offer information on tours and travels. In the same ways so have print, visual and audio media been useful in promoting tourism. Religion Although there have been a number of differences between the Christians and the Muslims, religion has for the most part been useful in the overall development agenda. The Roman Catholic leadership insistence on peace attributed to the end of the civil war. This saw the increase of both domestic and international tourism as of 2013. Political Elements Terrorism This has mostly been in a domestic regard. There have been multiple conflicts between the ruling party Frelimo and the Opposition Renamo. On numerous occasions, the latter has been accused of rebellious attacks against the government of the day. The use of aggression by arms has scared of tourists and given the country a bad reputation in the international domain. Visa Issues Legal experts state that the immigration law in the Mozambican constitution appears to have been laid out very strictly and diligently. However, only recently has the law been followed to the letter. This has caught most tourists (domestic and foreign) off guard and has ultimately reduced tourist inflow. Personal Preference After an insightful analysis of the economic, social and political conditions in Mozambique, I would not visit the country. This is because of; Personal safety – the country is constantly marred by civil war. The fact that the civil war has carried on in the country for more than 9 years, would mean that the possibility of it breaking out is very high. Natural calamities are also on the likelihood of occurrence. The political instability is also a negative attribute in terms of safety. These three factors coupled, pose a serious threat to anyone’s safety. Visa Issues – Although this does not necessary pose a serious threat it is not very attractive. It would be unwise to visit the country when numerous reports of foreigners having trouble in this regard have been reported. The Mozambican government has also not made any substantial efforts to resolve the issue at hand. This puts foreigners in a position of risk to face legal charges if they are not fully conversant and compliant with constitutional requirements .However in all fairness, if this issue were resolved the visiting the country would be a much more attractive prospect. Promotion Inadequacies – In comparison to other countries with promising tourism prospects Mozambique has not really made quantifiable efforts to promote tourism within it. Notably, this could be because of the focus on firstly, agricultural development and secondly, handling of national crisis’ such as terrorism and civil war. As a result, the tourism market is not very attractive. There is no actual identifiable reason that has been outlined by the country as a unique marketing factor. The availability of Alternatives – Mozambique is facing serious competition from other African countries. Countries such as Kenya and Tanzania have gone a long way in marketing their tourism ventures. As a result, they have garnered good reputation I n terms of beautiful attractive and stable tourism areas. These alternatives have created favorable images and goodwill in comparison to Mozambique. If one had the opportunity to visit Africa, the alternatives, laid out would be more preferable to Mozambique. This all comes down to the point that Mozambique has not invested any effort to fight competition. Works Cited Awaken Mozambique Organisation. "Recent News." Awaken Mozambique. 12th April 2015 . Read More