Malawi friendliness warms up World Travel Market in London
Dozens of tourists who have been to Malawi flocked to the Malawi pavilion at the on-World Travel Market currently underway in London, telling global travellers of their experiences of warm heartedness of Malawians.
The World Travel Market which opened on Monday 5th November and will run until 7th November, 2018 is one of the largest global travel shows which over 200,000 tourism operators, media and related groups, has seen the Malawi pavilion, being one of the most visited on the first day of the show.
Juan Perez, a Spanish national who was in Malawi could not hide his excitement after chancing the pavilion on Monday morning. He was a centre of attraction as he screamed “Malawi, Malawi, zikomo, zikomo” before he narrated his experiences to those that converged at the pavilion.
“The people are friendly. Unlike other countries, the Police were polite and helpful, and nobody asked us for money. The country is beautiful and warm hearted. I was at Nyika, Likoma, Majete, Liwonde, Lilongwe and Salima. It felt safe to drive, I met a lady Captain on Illala on Lake Malawi who allowed me to experience the control of the ship,” said Perez, who took questions from the audience.
Deputy Director of Tourism Sosten Lingwalanya who is leading the Malawi team, described the first day as one of the best opening due to the responses that the traders and operators in the industry has shown greater interest in Malawi.
“We are becoming one of the first countries everyone wants to engage and open up business with in the sector. We have the right framework and product. As a department we are satisfied, we look forward to having more deals for Malawi,” said Lingwalanya.
Malawi Travel Consortium Mary-Anne Bartlett described the opening day as “fabulous” saying they managed to engage with many people that she expected opportunities will grow out of the engagements.
Susan Carnes of Fisherman’s Rest said the WTM start had seen them engage with groups and teams interesting in community projects and enjoying Malawi Tourism offers.
Other tourism operators at the event include the Travel Centre and the hotel giant Sunbird Hotels and Resorts.
Tourism is something that has been sorely neglected over the years. It should be given more attention as a foreign currency earner than tobacco. Unfortunately anyone making enquiries at the Malawi pavilion at the WTM in London will have to be informed that there is no direct flight to Malawi from Europe apart from Ethiopian Airways. This is a huge disadvantage to tourism promotion.
this is very positive development