The latest April 2020 economic update by the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has foreseen a drop in the tourism sector’s growth, from -4.9% last year to -9.9%.

The forecast has been attributed to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the tourism sector. Last month, the Malawi Tourism Council outlined that the pandemic would affect 35,000 employees. True enough, hospitality establishments are currently sending some of their staff on leave while others have resorted to salary cuts to manage resources amidst the pandemic.

On 26th March, the Malawi Tourism Council (MTC) had a meeting with the Department of Tourism, which is under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism. The meeting was to discuss various incentives to cushion the sector amidst the pandemic, while the meeting saw the suspension of PAYEE and Pension payments by all private tourism operators, among other incentives. It was announced that the government was to respond to more incentives by MTC, but there has been silence and MTC feels shunned.

The tourism sector will therefore suffer amidst the pandemic, while MCCCI the sector to bounce back strongly next year and to register a growth of 9.2%.