Mozambican authorities Tuesday pledged to invest 250 million dollars this year to cater for an estimated one million tourists
Posted by African Press International on May 16, 2007
Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambican authorities Tuesday pledged to invest 250 million dollars this year to cater for an estimated one million tourists that are expected to visit the country, APA has learnt.
Deputy Tourism Minister Rosalio Mualeia told reporters in Maputo that this year is expected to be the best in decades in terms of the number of tourists visiting Mozambique.
These visitors are expected to bring US$ 150 million into the state coffers, she added.
Before departing for Lisbon to attend the World Travel and Tourism Summit, Mualeia said investments in the sector was in fact expected to reach US$ 250 million in 2007, which is US$ 100 million more than last year.
The south of the country and, particularly, it’s capital of Maputo, were the preferred areas for the investors, she noted.
“In order to stimulate the sector, we (the government) have launched a package of investment incentives and are involved in the process of abolishing visas between all 14 countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“Mozambique is a very attractive destination. We have over 2,900 km of coast and we have to work on promoting it,” Mualeia added.
Mualeia said that the number of tourists visiting Mozambique was increasing by 7 per cent a year, which was higher than the African average of 5 percent.
Published by Korir, African Press in Norway, apn, africanpress@chello.no tel +47 932 99 739 or +47 6300 2525 source.apa
