Rock climbers from the United States of America are in Malawi to train tour guides skills in rock climbing in Mulanje.
The training which is expected to end in seven days has been organized in a bid to promote tourism in the country.
Mario Stanley who is one of trainers said that they were requested to train tour guides by Climb Malawi and a non-profit organization called Global Climbing Initiative (GCI) from America in order to enhance the growth of climbing at Mulanje Mountain.
“The training will help hiking guides in Malawi to diversify their business as it will give them an opportunity to create two revenue streams, hiking services and climbing services as currently in Malawi there is only hiking services offered,” said Stanley.
He further highlighted that this is another way of increasing the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), saying that though the results may come at a slow pace but rock climbing will bring more revenue in the tourism sector and improve the economy of the country.
Stanley also stated that they hope Malawi will be able to provide climbing materials in five years but at the moment the Global Climbing Initiative will be providing climbing materials as starter packs.
One of the people involved, Geoffrey Mwantisi, said the training will assist him to be knowledgeable on how to climb mountains using ropes and as a way of generating revenue after the training.
He further said the training has imparted climbing skills in him, he is no longer afraid of rock climbing as before and he encourages young people to learn rock climbing from him after the training.
