Madagasca seeks to develop tourism industry: minister

Madagascar's government is seeking to development the tourism industry, an official has said.

"Tourism in Madagascar advances but we cannot yet speak about boom or explosion of tourism for the moment," Minister of Tourism, Rolland Ratsiraka, said on Thursday.

He made the remarks during the opening of a four-day International Tourism Fair Madagascar 2016 in the capital, Antananarivo.

The minister lamented the country's tourism industry was still weak.

"Our capacity is still weak, our infrastructure is being rehabilitated, and tourism is not yet understood by the entire population and by some officials," he said.

He said that since independence in 1960, Madagasca's airport infrastructure had remained "the same" until expansion work began last year.

He vowed to bring changes to his ministry to better support the private sector.

The minister also said he attended an international conference on tourism and development in Beijing last month and expected cooperation with China in order to attract Chinese investors.

He said Madagascar was planning to promote its tourism in countries including China, Kenya, Turkey and France.

He expressed his gratitude to Ms. Yang Xiaorong, the Chinese ambassador to Madagascar, who attended the opening ceremony, for "her touching commitment to the development of Madagascar's tourism."

The number of tourists coming into Madagascar was 255,000 in 2012 and it dropped to 222,000 in 2014, the minister said, adding the government aimed to increase the number.

"The contribution of tourism to Madagascar's economy currently represents 780 million U.S. dollar of foreign exchange earnings, or 5.5 percent of the GDP," he said. Endit