Mozambique: Government plans to introduce electronic visa – Watch

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Mozambique: Government plans to introduce electronic visa – Watch

8:43 CAT | 24 Aug 2020

Photo: Noticias

The Mozambican government intends to introduce shortly an electronic visa to facilitate the entry into the country of foreign citizens from any part of the world, President Filipe Nyusi announced on Thursday.

Using electronic methods would reduce the waiting time for visas, and would help increase the flow of tourists, said Nyusi. It would also help Mozambique emerge from the restrictive measures that were imposed under the state of emergency to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Currently, there are very few international flights to or from Maputo. But Mozambique Airlines (LAM) is resuming its flights to Lisbon this month, and other companies are expected to follow suit (they include Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Turkish Airways, TAP-Air Portugal, and South African Airways).

Nyusi was speaking in the southern city of Matola, where he gave an address on “Tourism in Times of Crisis: Opportunities and Challenges”.

He also announced that, in the near future, the government will launch the “clean and safe stamp” – an initiative to help certify that bodies involved in the tourism industry are complying with the Covid-19 prevention measures approved by the Health Ministry. Such measures include social distancing and the obligatory use of face masks.

With the aim of promoting “Destination Mozambique”, the “clean and safe stamp”, Nyusi added, should make the country increasingly competitive, and transmit an image of comfort and safety to the users of tourism establishments.

“We are developing the national register of tourism undertakings in order to make available up-to-date and reliable statistical information on tourism establishments”, added the President.

Nyusi said that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will shortly announce how cultural events are to be held in future, using digital platforms, including radio and television.

“The country will need to re-invent itself beyond Covid-19”, he stressed, adding that, despite the current restrictions, Mozambicans should lose their focus on the government’s Five Year programme for the period 2020-2024, particularly for the tourism area.

The restrictions, notably on travel to Mozambique, have dealt a dramatic blow to tourism. In the first half of this year, tourism revenue fell by 95 per cent, when compared with the same period in 2019.

The contribution of the hotel and restaurant industries to the Mozambican Gross Domestic Product fell from 1.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to 1.1 per cent in the second quarter.

In 2019, an estimated two million international tourists visited Mozambique, and revenue from tourism reached 240 million dollars. The tourism industry employs about 60,000 people.

Source: AIM