Angola is expected to position itself, during the next five years, as one of the main tourist destinations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) regions, said last week the President of the Republic, João Loureço.
João Lourenço said this in the National Assembly, when deliverying the mandatory State of the Nation Address, at the opening of the solemn session of the Fifth Legislature (2022/2023), which also marks the opening of the parliamentary year.
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In order to achieve this goal, João Lourenço promised to create, together with the private sector, conditions of excellence in priority tourism areas such as Cabo Ledo, south of Luanda, KAZA Project, which involves the provinces of Bié, Cubando Cubango and Moxico, Yona Park in Namibe Province desert, and the Kalandula Falls, in the Province Malanje.
Regarding the conditions to favour tourism, the President of the Republic mentioned the improvement of access roads, telecommunications, power and water supply as well as transport and other public services.
He also noted that tourism infrastructures are to be modernised, providing other services to create a more favourable environment for tourism in order to stimulate demand.
Data from the tourism sector indicate that Angola has a Tourism Master Plan (PDT) approved in 2011 whose implementation expired in accordance with its term, in December 2020, but regarding the relevance of its content little has changed, taking into account that its challenges remain and also because, over these 10 years, there are no records of major investments directed at boosting tourism.
The sector´s challenges are related to infrastructures quality, access to tourism products, lack of basic infrastructures (energy, water, telecommunications), especially in areas that are more distant from urban centres.
Besides the tourism hubs pointed out by the President of the Republic, Angola has, among other attractions, the Fenda da Tundavala, in Huila province, Maiombe Forest, in Cabinda, Nzenzo Caves (Uige), Nakarumbo and Karumbo Lagoons (Lunda Norte), Moco Hill, (Huambo) and the Chiumbe River Falls (Lunda Sul).
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The country´s eighteen provinces are covered with tourist attractions.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an economic bloc made up of 15 Southern African countries, namely South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Similarly, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) is a sub-regional economic bloc made up of 11 countries, namely Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Central African Republic, São Tomé and Príncipe, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
