Heritage that pays

MEI LANFANG—One of China’s opera legends

**By Chimwemwe Mangazi in Beijing, China: **

Tourism remains one of Malawi’s most promising economic engines, firmly positioned as a pillar of transformation in the Malawi 2063 development blueprint.

Recent data shows the sector’s growing contribution. In 2025, Malawi’s tourism contribution to GDP rose to K1.6 trillion, representing 5.9 percent of the economy.

Domestic travellers continue to dominate the sector, generating 93.9 percent of all tourism spending, amounting to about K1.32 trillion in 2024. International visitors contributed only 6.1 percent, or $49.3 million.

These figures show that Malawi’s tourism growth is being driven largely by its own people.

This is one of the lessons Malawi can learn from China, a country that has developed a strong domestic tourism culture and turned it into a major economic force.

China’s domestic tourism revenue consistently exceeds $600 billion, according to global tourism datasets and China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

But the bigger lesson is the mindset behind the figures. China treats tourism as a national project rooted in pride, memory and identity.

During my current visit to China, I have seen this sense of national pride in many places. At the National Museum of China, history is preserved with extraordinary depth. Every era, from ancient dynasties to modern political transitions, is documented with clarity and seriousness.

Even minor historical events are treated as important pieces of the national story. Walking through the museum gives you a sense of a country that remembers itself.

This is very different from Malawi’s National Museum, which, despite holding valuable artefacts, lacks depth and narrative. Our political journey from colonial rule to independence, from the Kamuzu Banda era to multiparty democracy, is barely documented.

Visitors can leave without gaining a full understanding of Malawi’s identity. A national museum should be a place where a country sees itself clearly, but ours feels incomplete.

China’s preservation culture goes beyond national politics. At the Mei Lanfang Memorial Pavilion, the life of a single opera artist is celebrated with the same seriousness we reserve for national heroes.

His sculpture stands proudly at his grandfather’s house and hundreds of people visit every week to honour his contribution to Chinese opera. The site is beautifully maintained, narrated and respected.

In Malawi, we have fallen giants of entertainment such as Madolo, Du Chisiza, Saleta Phiri, Wambali Mkandawire and Lucius Banda, among many others, yet none of them has a memorial or museum dedicated to their legacy.

Their homes are not preserved, their stories are not adequately documented and their contributions are not celebrated in physical spaces. Future generations risk knowing them only through scattered memories and music rather than curated heritage sites that teach pride and identity.

China’s tourist attractions are also carefully curated to tell stories. Tiananmen Square stands as a symbol of political history and national pride.

The Forbidden City preserves centuries of imperial heritage. Jiangsu Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve protects endangered species while educating visitors. The Yellow Sea Wetlands Museum documents ecological history with scientific precision.

Xijindu Ancient Street keeps ancient architecture alive through restoration. Baoji Hill offers cultural and spiritual heritage, while the Qingming Bridge Ancient Canal Scenic Area preserves ancient engineering and trade routes. These sites are maintained, staffed and narrated.

In contrast, what has Malawi done to document the Napolo story in places such as Zomba, or the more recent Cyclone Freddy, which killed hundreds of Malawians?

Where are the first clothes or cars that Kamuzu used? In which caves did our ancestors live and are the writings on the stones still visible?

As small or seemingly insignificant as these things may sound, they can become attractions that help tell a country’s story. This is part of what makes heritage tourism work elsewhere.

Perhaps the most striking lesson from China is that it does not rely solely on foreigners to patronise its tourist sites. In every place we visited, the crowds were overwhelmingly Chinese.

Families, students, elders and workers filled the sites, eager to learn about and appreciate their heritage. Domestic tourism is a major pillar of China’s tourism industry, supported by a strong culture of visiting and engaging with heritage sites.

In Malawi, the situation is different. If not for kindergarten and primary school trips, many of our museums would be deserted.

The National War Memorial Tower in Lilongwe, which is meant to honour Kamuzu Banda and war heroes, is often empty. There is no guide to explain its significance. Instead, the site has become a venue for Mafunyeta memorial shows and car racing stunts.

We have turned some heritage sites into event grounds because we have not invested enough in storytelling, preservation and public engagement.

Yet Malawi does not need billions to transform domestic tourism. What we need is organisation, creativity and pride.

Our existing tourist sites can be reorganised to tell Malawi’s story from political, cultural, artistic and economic perspectives. Exhibits can be modernised, curated and made interactive.

We can create memorials for artists, athletes, political leaders, writers and cultural figures. A pavilion dedicated to Wambali Mkandawire or Du Chisiza could attract visitors while preserving their contribution to Malawi’s cultural history.

We can train guides and storytellers to narrate history with passion and accuracy. We can encourage domestic tourism through campaigns that inspire families to explore their own country.

We can also develop new sites of interest around Ngoni migration routes, Yao coastal history, Chewa cultural shrines, colonial trading posts and music heritage trails. Malawi has countless untapped stories waiting to be told.

The numbers already show the potential. Domestic tourism expenditure grew from K323.8 billion in 2020 to K776.6 billion in 2024.

The sector added 70,000 new jobs in 2024 and, with domestic travellers contributing 95 percent of all tourism revenue, Malawi has a strong foundation on which to build.

Tourism is not just about beautiful places. It is also about preserving identity and teaching pride.

China has demonstrated the economic value of building a strong domestic tourism culture around heritage. Malawi has the stories, people and places to develop its own model.

If we begin to preserve our heritage with the same seriousness, Malawi’s tourism sector can become the economic engine it has long promised to be.