17/06/2022
ABOUT AND THE ROLE OF NKHOTAKOTA TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE (NTI)
The Tourist Information Center will be the most important visitor service facility in and about Nkhotakota. It will provide the initial contact with most tourists who visit our district, and will create the first impression tourists will perceive.
Nkhotakota TIC will offer specific information about the local area, its attractions, events, facilities, and services. It also assists in gathering data about tourists, such as where they come from, how long they will stay, what brought them to the area, and other significant data that our community needs to assist in the development of its tourism plan. Most visitors or "passers-by" are strangers to Nkhotakota and unaware of the variety of attractions offered. Therefore, our TIC must be able to provide complete information about the community.
Types of information which will be available to tourists should be classified for easy reference, and will include the following major categories:
Accommodations (hotels, lodges, campgrounds, hostels)
Auto repair, garages
Attractions/amusements/entertainment
Cultural attractions (museums, galleries market, )
Community events (sport, cultural)
Directional information,
Maps
Fishermen available for boat tours
Foreign visitors and interpreters
Health services and hospitals,
Emergency information
Historical sites, places, buildings Ilala and Likoma Information and booking service
Investor Services / Local industry
Local government services,
Local radio services
Non-governmental Organisations,
International co-operation
Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Information
Religious Institutions and Services
Restaurants (showing type, price range, reservations needed etc.)
Shopping information
Sightseeing services, Special tour services .Transportation services
Nkhotakota TIC makes it easy for travelers to get reliable answers to their questions and provides an excellent opportunity to “sell” them the area's attractions as well as gather information about them. By placing our Nkhotakota Tourist Information Center in a central, easily reached location, one stands a good chance of stopping many travelers who might otherwise just drive through Nkhotakota.
Nkhotakota TIC is placed strategically at the intersection two major routes: M5 and M18. The center will be attractive, easily recognized, and large enough to provide display racks for brochures on local and area attractions as well as a video show. Attached to Nkhotakota TIC will be an up-market coffee shop / small restaurant. There will be also a clean, top-quality ablution facility – the only one in the middle of a 500km stretch from Mzuzu to Lilongwe. In order to make the institution attractive for visitors there will be a show room for exclusive products from the local pottery as well as from local visual artists.
Nkhotakota Tourist Information Center will also double as a reservation bureau for hotels, lodges and tour operators. An additional role and service that the visitor center can play is providing the visitor something to do and see. The economic rewards of delaying the visitor one extra day are well known. Therefore, the Nkhotakota TIC will have a well trained group of tourist guides who will be available for historic and cultural tours in and around Nkhotakota. In sum, the Nkhotakota Tourist Information Center will be important in promoting the of the Nkhotakota district. The aim is also to make Nkhotakota a name product.
