Johannesburg — Mozambique is on the road to a significant tourism and economic boom following the launch of the extended N4 toll route leading into Maputo and a new hotel in the capital.
TransAfrican Concessions (Trac) and Southern Sun Hotels, Inns and Resorts have helped make one of the roads leading from Nelspruit to Maputo safer, smoother and quicker as well as helping to tackle the serious lack of accommodation for tourists and businesspeople.
Southern Sun chairman Helder Perreira, communications manager Lesley Briggs and group marketing director Richard Weilers said at the opening of the new Holiday Inn Maputo that the company was committed to the economic revival of Mozambique and that this R13,3 million investment was the beginning of several huge, related developments in Mozambique.
On the other hand, Trac CEO Trevor Jackson told business and travel journalists that his company was contributing a significant fiscal injection into the Mozambican economy through the new road and plaza, making travelling safe and smooth through the two countries and contributing to the expected rise in business and leisure tourism.
The new toll route and plaza outside the capital have also created thousands of jobs, with Trac accounting for more than 6 000 casual, temporary and permanent job opportunities, and both companies are feeding small and big businesses in South Africa and Mozambique.
These two major ventures are pumping millions into Mozambique and into the Lebombo Spatial Development Initiative and the trans-frontier park initiatives, which are expected to open the tourism and wildlife borders between South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana.
Another plus is the stimulation of business opportunities, job creation and a badly needed boost to the participating countries' economies, and the stabilising of the Southern African Development Community's social, political and economic prospects.
These positive developments were lauded at the weekend in Maputo by several prominent people, including Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, South Africa's High Commissioner in Mozambique Jessie Duarte, Funda Nacional de Tourisme (Futur) representative Denise Chicalia.
Chissano said from the pool deck commanding a grand view of the Indian Ocean that the hotel would help in Maputo's ongoing battle to tackle the business and leisure tourism accommodation backlog, boost the country's economy and to the economic well-being of the southern African region.
Duarte, who is the former Gauteng safety and security MEC, said: "This is confirmation of South Africa's commitment to the Maputo Corridor, which aims at strengthening the social, economic and political links for us to unlock the economic potential of both countries.
"This is a boost to the 50/50 partnership between South Africa and Mozambique and a positive element in the stabilisation of the two countries' industrial set-up and an answer to the accommodation shortage.
"And a significant addition to several key business links between us, worth about R20 billion, and a fitting reciprocation to Mozambique's current status as a major buyer of retail goods, about 60 percent."
Chicalia, whose Futur is an equivalent of SA Tourism (Satour), said: "The toll route will attract more tourists to Mozambique. Extra accommodation has been created through the launch of the new Holiday Inn Maputo, which adds to several top-class venues in the capital.
"There will be safety and security for travellers on the new toll route, which is safer than the old roads.
"Access to Maputo is going to be made easier. Locals and visitors are gaining in many ways. We are training more people in many new tourism services as both the new hotel and other existing tourism, leisure and hospitality providers are experiencing positive demands and staff requirements."
For this writer, the two ventures are a welcome dynamic in the ongoing modernisation of Maputo, an old Portuguese-built city where many grand buildings are still in a sorry state of disrepair, with most streets still unkempt, dusty and strewn with wrecks of small and big passenger and utility vehicles - legacies of struggles for the total liberation of Mozambique and later political battles between the ruling Frelimo and the rebel Renamo factions.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Thankfully, both these groups have come together and are seemingly working towards the revival of what is potentially a great destination in Southern Africa.
A brief tour of the city revealed a potential goldmine for the foreign sightseer, fun seeker and business person.
Sowetan Travel is currently planning a return trip that will show our readers that Maputo, and other parts of Mozambique, are worth a weekend or a week-long visit.
It seemed safe, inviting and warm - literally and figuratively - so watch this space for more.
