Africa-Press – Mozambique. The authorities in Inhambane province, southern Mozambique, expect to receive around 64,000 tourists during the Christmas and New Year festivities, more than double the 29,000 recorded in 2024, an official source said this Monday.
“For this peak season, we expect to receive about 64,000 tourists, with the majority being nationals, and this number is well above what we had last year, when we received about 29,000 tourists,” said Joana João, from the Provincial Directorate of Tourism of Inhambane, cited by Televisão de Moçambique (TVM).
The official also said that the hospitality sector enters the festive season with an average occupancy rate of 90%, “with a tendency to reach 95% in coastal areas,” driven by increased domestic demand and the gradual recovery of international tourism.
Suzana Vidal, a tour operator in that southern Mozambican province, also said that the number of visitors from Europe, various African countries and the North American market continues to grow.
“We have many visitors coming mainly from Europe, some African countries, especially South Africa, and the American market is also growing significantly,” she said.
The operator also advocated improvements in mobility to strengthen tourism competitiveness.
“Air transport, but also land transport, improving the road network, and possibly even thinking about rail transport, which would also be a beautiful tourist product for Mozambique,” Vidal said.
The Mozambican Government announced on 21 November the choice of Inhambane as the first special golf tourism zone, stating that the initiative aims to attract more investment and sports tourism to the region.
The decision comes after Mozambique hosted the International Tourism Conference on 3 and 4 November in Vilankulos, with the Government highlighting that it has designated the province of Inhambane as the tourist capital and wants to turn the region into an international reference, establishing limits on domestic airfares to guarantee accessibility and territorial equity.
Mozambique expects international tourism revenue to grow from more than 221 million dollars in 2024 to around 392 million in 2029, raising the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product from 4% to 6%, targets included in the Government’s Five-Year Programme.
