Overview

The travel and tourism sector has borne the brunt of COVID-related shutdowns and disruptions.  With national borders closed since March 2020, periodic extended restrictions on inter-regional travel, limits on operating hotels, bars, and restaurants, Madagascar’s tourism sector has been in a downward spiral since the beginning of the pandemic.  But this sector is also expected to rebound quickly once normalcy is restored.  The GOM views the untapped potential of the tourism sector as a main component of future growth.  It has set a goal of attracting 500,000 foreign tourists annually through which tourism will drive employment, private sector growth, and foreign exchange earnings.  The GOM wants to leverage Madagascar’s famed biodiversity and unique flora and fauna to entice foreign and domestic travel and investment across the country through partnerships with leading hotel chains, tour operators, cruise ships, and the like.  In the second quarter of 2021, the Tourism Ministry called for expressions of interest from private entities to operate and invest in a few state-owned tourism assets and has promoted domestic tourism to compensate the losses caused by the lockdown.

Leading sub-sectors 

• Accommodations: hotels and other lodging, cruises 
• Hotel and restaurant equipment 
• Air transportation 
• Tourist attractions: national parks, marinas 
• Travel Marketing Agencies 

Opportunities 

• Investment 
• Acquisition 
• Trade Fair (Salon du Tourisme de Madagascar) 

Resources 

• International Tourism Fair, Madagascar
• National Office of Tourism, Madagascar 
• Madagascar National Parks