Bushiri’s Unspoken And Silent Tourism Charisma

Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe has for the past three days become a real tourism hub and a center of flourishing economic activities with the arrival of over 4500 international spiritual tourists under the Enlightened Christian Gathering-ECG Church programme.

Saturday evening, local big buses and taxi operators could be seen dropping the visitors to various hotels in the city.

This is at least giving the country’s ailing tourism sector a breather after going through terrible economic shocks with the devastating COVID-19 global pandemic.

Patrick Banda, a taxi operator from Kawale Township, confesses his daily total earnings have received a major boost with the arrival of the international visitors.

“We suffered huge economic losses with the pandemic. But Prophet Bushiri is fast recovering our businesses. We celebrate the great son of the soil for contributing highly to our improved economic livelihoods,” says Banda.

Some visitors we have talked to indicate they are in Malawi seeking spiritual guidance from the ECG leader and founder Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and of course to celebrate his birthday.

For instance, Patricia Kuwong, a barrister, from Cameroon and Nickolas Mete from Australia are in the country for the first time. They say they have never seen a great prophet like Bushiri.

“We will keep flicking to Malawi as long as our major Prophet is here. People here are so friendly and the country, peaceful. Before returning home, I would want to visit the famous Lake Malawi too,” says the seemingly excited Kuwong.

And a couple, Jeff and Evelyn Prischmenn from the United States of America says it has already been to Mangochi for the lake and Mzuzu, where Bushiri grew.

Bushiri’s spokesperson Ephraim Nyondo says the visitors are being accomodated in the capital’s major hotels including Bingu International Convention Centre, Capital Hotel, Golden Peacock Hotel and Crossroads Hotel, among others.

Initially, Golden Peacock Hotel Marketing Manager Malumbo Kondowe told the local media that they are one of main beneficiaries as 60 percent of their business was from Bushiri’s international visitors.

Since Bushiri’s controversial return to his native home in November 2020, thousands of people across the globe have been flocking to Malawi seeking spiritual upliftment.

Some eonomists believe government could take advantage of this and rake in huge revenues to resurrect the struggling tourism sector inline with the launched two-year COVID-19 Social Economic Recovery Plan.

Source: Rainbow TV