Coronavirus delays Blantyre hotel opening
By Isaac Salima:
Assistant General Manager of Sogecoa Golden Peacock Hotel in Blantyre, Derrick Xu, has said opening of the newly constructed facility has been delayed due to coronavirus that has hit China and some countries around the world.
The Chinese-owned hotel was set to open its doors last month but Xu said they failed as they had not finished procuring furniture due to the closure of some factories in China because of the disease.
“The outbreak of coronavirus forced some factories [in China] to shut down but we are optimistic that the furniture will be in the country anytime soon. We have, therefore, shifted the opening to next month,” Xu said.
He said this on the sidelines of a familiarisation tour by Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Salim Bagus, of some hotels in Blantyre.
Bagus said he was happy that the government’s dream of having the fivestar hotel opened would become a reality.
“The hotel will make a big difference to the tourism industry. We have had challenges in holding big conferences and this additional is good news,” Bagus said.
Construction works of the hotel started in December 2017.
The minister also toured Amaryllis and Crossroads hotels where he urged officials to maintain good standards.
Bagus later visited Dziwe la Nkhalamba dam in Mulanje Mountain.
The visit was in line with the government’s plans to construct lodges within the area and erect aerial cable cars to the mountain to promote tourism.
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