Tour operators have not seen cancellations or a drop in bookings despite travel warnings for parts of northern Mozambique.
The safety of travellers in the area has been questioned since an insurgent attack on a hunting lodge near Niassa Special Reserve on September 3. The lodge was burned down, up to 20 workers were abducted and three US citizens were evacuated from the area.
The insurgency remains concentrated in Cabo Delgado while neighbouring Niassa has experienced intermittent incursions, including attacks on conservation sites in Niassa Special Reserve.
Travel advisories issued by the US, UK, Canada and Australia identify parts of northern Mozambique as higher-risk areas although the geographical boundaries and severity of the warnings differ. Some governments have highlighted Cabo Delgado, the Memba and Erati districts of Nampula and parts of Niassa, including the Niassa Special Reserve and the Mecula and Marrupa districts, as particularly unsafe areas.
Geographic knowledge
But tourism operators are questioning whether these distinctions are reflected in travellers’ perceptions of the country.
Laura Parry, Owner and Manager of Mozambique Islands, says current travel warnings can create the impression that “northern Mozambique” is one relatively small and connected destination.
“There can be a tendency to see a warning for a particular part of Mozambique and assume it applies equally to the whole area or the entire country. In reality, the distances are vast.”
She says travellers can overlook the geographical distance between destinations in northern Mozambique and areas where the insurgency is concentrated.
“Within what is generally referred to as northern Mozambique, significant geographical distances separate destinations such as Nampula and Pemba from areas further north where there is insurgency.”
Parry says this can have consequences for tourism even where the conflict is not close to a particular destination.
“Tourism is an important part of the local economy in these destinations so, unfortunately, broad perceptions of insecurity can have an impact even when the actual conflict is nowhere near the destination.”
Greater awareness
However, Parry has not seen a noticeable increase in cancellations or decrease in bookings due to recent warnings. She says it is difficult to determine whether this reflects agents and clients understanding Mozambique’s geography or simply being unaware of the warnings.
Natalie Tenzer-Silva, Director of Dana Tours, has similarly not seen cancellations or drop-off in bookings as a result of the advisories.
“This tells me that travellers are doing their homework, or working with reputable operators and agents, and understand that the security situation in Cabo Delgado and parts of Niassa Reserve is highly localised and not a nationwide issue.”
When guests raise concerns, Tenzer-Silva says her team explains the geography and location of the conflict.
“Context matters enormously. In Maputo, we are more than 1 500km from Niassa Reserve. That’s roughly the distance from London to Rome or Cape Town to Johannesburg. Even our operations that send guests into neighbouring Nampula province, some 650km from the conflict area, have an extremely low risk profile.”
Tenzer-Silva says painting the whole north with the same brush does real damage.
“It deters travellers from safe, established tourism regions that have nothing to do with the conflict and it hurts the livelihoods of communities who depend on tourism. The safety situation needs to be assessed regionally and specifically.”
When guests raise concerns, Tenzer-Silva’s team walks them through the map with transparency about where the conflict actually is.
However, she says security measures are still in place to ensure guests are safe.
“We continue to monitor the security situation as a matter of standard operating practice, which any responsible operator would do.”
Tenzer-Silva notes that, despite the insurgent attacks, tourism has grown in the past five years.
“Tourist arrivals in Mozambique rose to 1.27 million in 2025: an increase of almost 15% year on year. The number of foreign tourists in Mozambican hotels has also more than tripled in five years to almost 760 000 in 2024. This is a reflection of just how much our growing tourism value means to our country and why it’s so important that we protect this momentum.”
