The Development of Tourism and the Accommodation Sector in Malawi Since Independence

141 Pages·2011·1.78 MB·English

by  Alice Magombo

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The Development of Tourism and the Accommodation Sector in
Malawi Since Independence

Submitted By: Alice Magombo
Supervisor: Prof C.M. Rogerson

October 2011

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in
partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by coursework in
Tourism Studies.
ABSTRACT

This study examines the development of tourism and the accommodation sector in Malawi since
attaining independence in 1964. It analyses the factors that have influenced the evolution process
of Malawi’s tourism and accommodation sector and discusses the development patterns in
context with the Butler’s Theory of Destination Development Area Cycle. The study shows that
Malawi tourism and accommodation sector development stages diverged from Butler’s proposed
phases of destination development. The tourism and accommodation sector development process
from the period Malawi obtained independence went through three stages: the Post-Colonial
Development Stage, Fragmented Development and Attempted Recovery. Its divergence is
primarily attributed to political changes, which in turn influenced the change in tourism policy
ideologies. The other main reason for the divergence is attributed to external factors, most
importantly the World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Programme which impacted upon Malawi as
a poor indebted country.

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DECLARATION

I declare that this research report is my own, unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of
Master of Arts by coursework in Tourism Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. It has not
been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other university.

Alice Magombo_______________________
Date _______________________

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people who have assisted me along the process:
 The Director of Malawi National Archives and staff who relentlessly assisted in the
research by providing archival materials
 My family, friends and colleagues. Thank you for all your support and patience
 To Mrs Wendy Job of the Cartography unit, for the maps.
 And a special thanks to my supervisor, Prof. C.M. Rogerson. Thank you for your support
and tremendous contribution to my growing knowledge of tourism.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... ii
DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................. iiii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1
1.1 Tourism ......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Importance of Tourism in Africa ................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Malawi Tourism ............................................................................................................................ 3
1.4 Research on Tourism in Malawi .................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Aims and Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 6
1.6 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 6
1.7 The Structure of the Report .......................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................8
2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 8
2.2 Overview of the Tourist Destination Development Life-Cycle (The Butler Model) ...................... 8
2.3 Experiences of Using Butler’s Model to Interpret Tourism Development in Africa ................... 18
2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 22

CHAPTER 3: TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWI ........................................................................ 25
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 25
3.2 Historical Emergence of the Tourism Industry ........................................................................... 26
3.3 Tourism Development after Independence ................................................................................ 30
3.4 Institutional Tourism Development ........................................................................................... 31
3.5 Assessing the Tourism Potential ................................................................................................. 34
3.6 Initial Tourism Development ...................................................................................................... 38
3.7 Political Change and Tourism Development After 1994 ............................................................. 52
3.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 65
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CHAPTER 4:THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ACCOMMODATION SECTOR IN MALAWI SINCE INDEPENDENCE67
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 67
4.2 Historical Emergence of Accommodation Industry .................................................................... 67
4.3 Accommodation Development since Independence .................................................................. 75
4.4 Organisation in the Hotel Development ..................................................................................... 82
4.5 The Progress of the Hotel Development Programme ................................................................. 85
4.6 Government Hotel Facilities and their General Performance .................................................... 91
4.7 Utilization of Hotels .................................................................................................................... 98
4.8 Proliferation of Accommodation units; Hotels, Lodges and Inns ............................................. 100
4.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 103

CHAPTER 5: STAGES IN MALAWI TOURISM AND ACCOMMODATION SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ....... 105
5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 105
5.2 Stages of Development in Malawi Tourism and Accommodation Sector ................................ 105
5.3 The Butler’s Model and the Malawi Tourism ........................................................................... 113
5.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 115

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 117

APPENDIX A – List of Files from National Archives, Zomba .............................................................. 129
APPENDIX B – List of Interviewees .................................................................................................. 132
APPENDIX C – List of Questions ...................................................................................................... 133

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Characteristics of Stages of Resort Developement………………………………………………………………………10
Table 3.1 Total Numbers of Visitors by Reason for Entry.…………………………………………………………………………..48
Table 3.2 Number of Visitors by Country of Residence 1987-1994.…………………………………………………………….51
Table 3.3 Number of Visitors by Reasons of Entry, 1985-1994.…………………………………………………………………..52
Table 3.4 Number of Visitors 1996-2008..…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 56
Table 3.5 Visitors by Country of Permanent Residence 1996-2005.……………………………………………………………57
Table 4.1 Summary of Hotels in the Colonial Era (1871 - 1952)…………………………………………………………………. 70
Table 4.2 Summary of Hotels during the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953-1963)……………………73
Table 4.3 Government Hotel Chain Developmental Phases..………………………………………………………..……………82
Table 4.4 Summary of Hotels in the Hotel Development Programme…………………………………………………………85
Table 4.5 Number of Hotels, Lodges and Inns, 1974..…………………………………………………………………………………88
Table 4.6 Available Hotels, Lodges and Inns, both Government and Private by 1984…………………………………93
Table 4.7 Summary of Hotel Rooms by 1975, 1980, 1985 by Location………………………………………………………..95
Table 4.8 Number of Visitors in a hotel by Type of Accommodation, 1986-1993...…………………………………….96
Table 4.9 Number of Hotel Guests, 1996-2002….……………………………………………………………………………………….99
Table 4.10 Room and Hotel Occupancy rates, 1996- 2008.…………………………………………………………………………99

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Southern Africa Region ............................................................................................................... 3
Figure 3.1 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland ..................................................................................... 29
Figure 3.2 Tourist Attractions in Malawi. .................................................................................................... 35
Figure 3. 3 Distribution of Tourists in Malawi according to the Country of Origin in 1968 ........................ 44
Figure 3.4 Visiting Tourists in 1987. ............................................................................................................ 50
Figure 3.5 Distribution of Visitors to Malawi in 1996. ............................................................................... 54
Figure 3.6 Distribution of Visitors by Country of Residence in 2009.. ........................................................ 58
Figure 4.1 Distribution of Hotels during Colonial Era (1871- 1952). ........................................................... 70
Figure 4.2 Distribution of hotels in Malawi during the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. .............. 74
Figure 4.3 Distributions of Hotels, Lodges and Inns in Malawi, 1974. ........................................................ 89
Figure 4.4 Distributions of Hotels, Lodges and Inns in Malawi, 1984………………………………………………………92
Figure 4.5 Numbers of Hotels in Malawi, 2011. ...................................................................................... .101

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Tourism
Tourism is not a new phenomenon; indeed, it has been part of human experience for many
centuries (Smith, 2004). It is defined as all activities of people travelling to and staying in places
outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure business or
other purposes (UNWTO, 1999). The origins of tourism as we know it today are impossible to
pinpoint precisely. Nevertheless, tourism as leisure activity evolved from the late nineteenth
to early twentieth century, quickly growing in significance and emerging as a global
phenomenon in the twenty-first century (Williams and Shaw, 1988). The leisure aspect of
tourism increased economic activities in destination areas and it became of interest as a focus
for academic study (Page and Connell, 2006; Sharpley, 2011). Significant developments have
shaped tourism into a profitable and large economic sector (Page and Connell, 2006). Social
changes in fashion and theme, political, economic and technological influences have
determined the progress of tourism. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
has described it as the fastest growing industry and the third largest next to manufacturing and
oil. It is now well-recognized sector as tourism is a source of foreign exchange earnings,
employment and a stimulant to other sectorial developments (Dieke, 2003). The number of
international tourist arrivals increased from 25.3 million in 1950 to 880 million in 2009,
corresponding to 6.2% average annual growth. The revenues generated in the same period
increased from US$21 billion to US$852 billion, which was an average annual growth of 11%
(UNWTO, 2010).
1.2 Importance of Tourism in Africa
In a special way, tourism has been recognized as a pro-poor development strategy that can
contribute to alleviate poverty in Africa as compared to other economic sectors. African poverty
has remained persistently high and the United Nations (UN) has projected that two-thirds of
the world’s poor will be Africans by 2015 (Mitchell and Ashley, 2006). The poverty reducing
impacts of tourism are well articulated in tourism literature. Tourism is labour-intensive and
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draws a high proportion of vulnerable groups such as women, youth, and unskilled workers and
rural residents as employees (Mitchell and Ashley, 2006). In general tourism provides an
alternative source of income as most of the income in Africa is generated from subsistence
farming. For some African countries such as Mauritius and Seychelles, tourism is the main
source of income (Britton, 1982). Countries such as South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, and Gambia
have seen success in tourism development because their tourism receipts constitute 5 percent
or more of the national income and their receipts furnish 10 percent or more of exports (Cater,
1995). Overall, however, Africa ranks poorly relative to the mature tourism destinations of
North America, Europe, and also of East Asia and the Pacific (Sharpley, 2002). African
represents 4% of the total number of international visitors and 3.7% of the total global receipts.

Although Africa is the least visited region, its share of the global tourism market is increasing
and the extent of the industry’s penetration has increased while Europe and North America
tend to have less dynamic growth (Brown and Hall, 2008). In 2006, Africa as a destination
showed the greatest growth at 8% whilst Europe and North America were at 4 % and 5 %
respectively (Brown and Hall 2008; UNWTO, 2008). In 1998, Africa received 25 million arrivals,
which was an increase over 23 million tourists of 1997. These numbers of international tourist
arrivals are concentrated in small number of destinations in the north-west and south-east of
the African continent. North Africa, with 35 percent of the regional total and southern Africa,
with 30 percent, attracted two-thirds of the total tourist arrivals, while East Africa received 23
percent, leaving only ten percent for West Africa and three percent for Central Africa (Rogerson
and Kiambo, 2007). The leading destinations for African tourism are shown to be Egypt and
South Africa (Mitchell and Ashley, 2006). Between the four main African regions, the industry
was worth an estimated $73.6 billion in 2005. According to the WTTC forecast, Africa will grow
fourfold between 1995 and 2020. Of that growth in tourist arrivals, Southern Africa, and South
Africa in particular, accounts large share of the increase in visitor numbers.

Africa holds the majority of the important biodiversity areas that are still untapped worldwide.
Coincidentally, there is an increasing demand for nature-based tourism from the global north
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