The government is going to extend the visa exemption, which currently applies to 29 countries, with the aim of attracting more tourists, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Eldevina Materula, announced on Thursday (8).
“Yes, we are working to be able to see and increase more countries. The figures are still on the table, I’m not going to say anything before approval, but I’m sure it will be soon,” said the minister, on the sidelines of the 10th edition of the International Tourism Fair – FIKANI, which is taking place in Maputo until Sunday.
According to information from Lusa, Mozambique introduced the electronic visa (e-Visa) in December 2022 and, on 1 May last year, went ahead with visa exemption for citizens of 29 countries. It also revised the measure for granting investment visas for longer periods to foreign citizens who hold investments in the country, simplifying the requirements for granting them.
On 4 March, Mozambique issued almost 30,000 border visas since the implementation of the decision to facilitate and exempt tourists from low-risk countries from visas, according to government figures.
“The government wants to allow visa exemptions for more countries, with the aim of attracting more tourists, as a result of the positive reaction it has had from countries in the southern African region, taking into account the previous decision to facilitate entry for tourists from 29 countries,” said the Minister of Culture and Tourism.
Eldevina Materula emphasised that the government is currently working on the assessment and review of this process.
During FIKANI’s opening ceremony, the private sector asked the government to “open up the country to the world” so that entrepreneurs could “sell their products”.
“It is our belief that the more countries that have visa exemptions, the more tourists will have the opportunity to visit the country,” said the president of the Mozambican Tourism Federation, Vasco Manhiça.
The chairman of the board of the largest Mozambican travel agency, Cotur, Noor Momade, called on the government not to open its doors to “countries with migration problems” and insisted that the Executive must guarantee the safety of businesspeople and tourists.
“According to data presented by INE’s national director of sectoral and business statistics, Adriano Matsimbe, Mozambique received a total of 1,153,698 tourists in 2023, a figure that represents a drop of 43.3% compared to 2019, when the last survey was carried out, before the effect of the covid-19 pandemic, when it registered 2,032,923 tourists”
“We know that kidnappings are a very big evil, we believe that they are a very big impediment to the country’s development and to attracting tourists and investors, they are an evil that has to be fought, an evil that the government has to solve,” the businessman emphasised.
According to data presented by INE’s national director of sectoral and business statistics, Adriano Matsimbe, Mozambique received a total of 1,153,698 tourists in 2023, a figure that represents a drop of 43.3 per cent compared to 2019, when the last survey was carried out, before the effect of the covid-19 pandemic, when 2,032,923 tourists were registered.
The data also indicates that tourists who visited the country spent more than 52 billion meticals, representing an average daily spend of 6452 meticals.
FIKANI expects to welcome 6,500 participants and more than 220 exhibitors until Sunday, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which is organising the event.
Eight countries, including Portugal, Spain, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Angola and Namibia, have confirmed their presence at the fair.
