Maputo, Mozambique, 30 May – Over 630 million meticals (US$21 million) were invested in 2010 in Mozambique’s Zambézia province to set up 38 tourist projects, specifically hotels and restaurants, said the governor of the province, cited by Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias.

Francisco Itae Meque said that the investment had been positive for the province as it had increased the number of tourist establishments to 298, 108 of which are hotels, 190 are restaurants and bars, as well as creating 1,624 new jobs.

Zambézia province currently has 1,146 hotel rooms and the large tourist resorts are Hotel Capulana, in Alto Molócuè district, Zalala Beach Lodge and Safaris in Supinho, amongst others, built in the city of Quelimane and in the districts of Pebane and Gurúè.

The biggest challenge for the sector is improving restaurant service provision, due to a lack of training of staff in this segment.

Last year the main activities to promote investment were, production of a CD detailing the potential of Zambézia province, promotion of the “good service” campaign, a tourist camp site in Lice in the Gilé National Reserve, and three operators were licensed by the National Tourism Institute (Inatur).

The Zambézia Provincial Tourism Association was recently set up to reorganise the sector, take part in tourism fairs both nationally and internationally and provide training for workers in the sector. (macauhub)