National tourism assembly to promote the Madagascar destination in 2010

The lack of tourists in Antananarivo, confirmed by the very low booking rate, merely 20%, had announced the worst scene for this year’s balance sheet. In the end, tourists happened to have visited Madagascar, but joined the country’s politically more stable regions. From January to November 2009, 148 400 travellers have been registered. It is far below the expected 350 000 visitors, following the very good year 2008’s record 340 000 registered tourists.  

For the ministry and the national tourism office, preparing the year 2010 is paramount. “Foreign tour operators are preparing their offers now; we must part of them”, estimated minister Irène Andréas. She outlined the influence of a potential settlement of the political crisis in and for the country forward. “we have to recover those professionals’ confidence to recover tourist flows”, she added. The national circuit court of the tourism is focusing on re-launch strategies. “We must bet on long term tourism”, declared the minister.  

Do tourism operators still believe in this re-launch strategy? The low participation rate to the national assembly is a cause for controversy. The re-launch strategy proposed to the transitional government actually went down like a lead balloon. Tax advantages requested from the Finance Ministry cannot be so much expected since the State itself has to roll up its sleeves to merely survive. Air transportation has no better chance when political measures are locking the free air space.   

Tourism remains Madagascar’s main source of foreign currency for having provided 167 millions US dollars in 2009, against 310 millions in 2008. The single seldom good new is that the individual tourist’s expense average has slightly gone up. Tourism was the political crisis’s biggest victim. Technical unemployment could not be avoided, even for the biggest hotels as the “Hotel des Thermes” in Antsirabe.   

The National Tourism Office’s attempts to re-launch the Madagascar destination throughout international shows as the World Travel Market in London, or the Top Resa in Paris have anyway paid off. Tourists travelled, but dodged the usual two to three days long stopover in Antananarivo, following recommendations stemming from operators or from the Foreign Office. Tourist areas throughout the regions got the lion’s share. Nosy-Be, Madagascar’s first tourism center, avoided economic and social disaster thanks to unprecedented promotions. For once in a lifetime, five stars tourism has been sold out, even to national tourists.   

The Air Madagascar airline company contributed to re-launch the destination by betting on regional flights. Its BOGOF offer, rewarding one ticket’s purchase with another free one, has begun since October 26th, and will end only on December 17th, 2009. Flights from Mauritius, La Reunion, Johannesburg, Moroni, Dzaoudzi and Nairobi are being concerned.