Sunbird Tourism

Sunbird Tourism, the largest hospitality provider in Malawi, faces significant operational barriers including high taxes (specifically a 1% tourism levy and a turnover tax), difficulty accessing international finance, and infrastructure deficits in electricity and water. While the company leverages local pension funds for finance and internal training to address a shortage of senior Malawian management, it continues to struggle with high costs associated with backup utilities and the loss of import tax incentives.

• Sunbird Tourism, the largest hospitality enterprise in Malawi and 71% Malawi owned, operates seven hotels and resorts providing accommodation, meeting facilities, and food and beverage services.
• The company faces significant tax burdens, including a 1% tourism levy intended for destination marketing and domestic tourism promotion, which collects $40 million per annum but is viewed as having insufficient results. Additionally, a turnover tax introduced under the Zero Deficit Budget has tightened margins more than profit tax, and the removal of duty-free status and import tax incentives increased costs; for example, renovations to Sunbird Mount Soche in 2011 cost an estimated extra $3 million due to duties on raw materials.
• Difficulty accessing international finance due to regional economic conditions and risk-averse investors has led Sunbird Tourism to diversify its funding sources, successfully utilizing local pension funds as an alternative to commercial banks and stock exchange equity capital.
• While Malawi exports lower-level hospitality skills to the region, including to South African companies, Sunbird struggles to recruit general managers and senior staff locally. To address this, the company uses internal Trainee Management Programmes and endorses a hospitality training course in Mzuzu, though it still employs two expatriates in senior positions.
• Frequent power cuts and water shortages increase operational costs through fuel purchases for generators and the need for reserve water tanks. For instance, the Mount Soche location in Blantyre maintains 15,000 litres of roof-stored reserve water, supplemented by tankers when necessary.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2013). Sunbird Tourism. https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/sunbird-tourism/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Sunbird Tourism. 2013. https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/sunbird-tourism/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Sunbird Tourism |date=25 February 2013 |url=https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/sunbird-tourism/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2013sunbird, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Sunbird Tourism}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2013}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/sunbird-tourism/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }