Title

Please provide a name for your action learning plan.

AI for Tourism: Improved data and insights for the development of an inclusive and viable tourism sector in Malawi.

Challenge statement

Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)

Malawi has an inadequate tourism information base which deprives stakeholders of critical insights into the industry's value. This lack of information is causing the economic growth of the sector to remain stagnant, negatively impacting the country's overall development

Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?

According to the Malawi Tourism Policy of 2019, the sector industry has been an essential contributor to the country's GDP, accounting for 7.7% of its economy. However, the industry faces challenges due to limited data and insights, a lack of collaboration among stakeholders, and inadequate infrastructure. Critical stakeholders involved in the challenge include government agencies, private sector players, local communities, and tourists.  The undesired effects of the challenge include a negative impact on the country's economy, low-quality visitor experiences, and the slow development of the tourism industry in Malawi. 

Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.

Tourism plays a significant role in the economy of Malawi. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2017, the sector directly contributed MK158 billion, representing 3.5 percent of the total GDP. The sector’s total (direct and indirect) contribution to GDP was MK 345 billion, representing 7.7 percent of GDP.   The sector also directly supported 233,000 jobs, representing 3 percent of total employment. The total (direct and indirect) contribution of the sector to employment was about 524,500 jobs, representing 6.7 percent of total employment. The sector also contributed about MK25 billion to foreign exchange earnings through visitor exports in 2017, representing 2 percent of total exports.  Investment in the sector amounted to about MK25 billion, representing 4.7 percent of total investment. Growth prospects in 2018 and beyond are also promising. Contribution to investment is expected to rise by 3.3 percent annually over the next ten years.  Despite progress in the sector, there has been an outcry about how the space could do more to contribute largely to Malawi's economy. This is attested by a comparison of the sector's contribution to GDP over the years which is segmented as follows: 7.3% in 2019, 5.7% in 2020, and 5.8% in 2021 (https://wttc.org/DesktopModules/MVC/FactSheets/pdf/704/154_20220613163251_Malawi2022_.pdf)   Links:   Tourism Policy: https://visitmalawi.mw/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/FINALISED-DRAFT-NATIONAL-TOURISM-POLICY-FOR-LAUNCH-AUG-2020-WITH-UPDATED-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN1.pdf  Malawi Tourism Investment Masterplan: https://visitmalawi.mw/index.php/download/malawi-tourism-investment-masterplan/   National Research Agenda: https://npc.mw/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Revised-NATIONAL-RESEARCH-AGENDA-200323-final-document-for-electronic-sharing.pdf

Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?

UNDP in Malawi is interested in exploring entry points in Tourism as a tool for sustainable development. To complement this effort, and to support the repositioning of the CO, AccLab is interested in investing in the tourism sector in Malawi by exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve data and insights. The aim is to develop a viable and inclusive tourism sector in Malawi by leveraging the latest technology to improve knowledge sharing and collaboration among stakeholders. At the back of this idea is the evidence in the Tourism Policy and Investment Plan which should the lack of data and insights in the sector. Such an intervention will help in positioning Acc Lab in the future programming of the CO, but also be strategic for the continuation of the innovation drive to help transform one of the most valuable and economic-focused industries.  This challenge will involve joint efforts on needs assessments and best practices, a hackathon to collaborate with all stakeholders, the co-development of an AI model to collect and map data based on identified indicators, and conceptualizing contextual solutions. This initiative will also be done with AccLab Tanzania as part of the transformation of working in-country offices, to cross-country insights.  The AccLab is well suited for working on this challenge because of its demonstrated capability of bringing new partners to the CO, the lab's interest in exploring emerging technologies and data sources, the lab's cross-cutting mandate which will help to facilitate collaboration across the CO's two programme portfolios of Governance and Resilience and Sustainable Growth. 

Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?

AccLab is working to revolutionize the tourism sector in Malawi by harnessing the power of AI to map data and improve collaboration among stakeholders. Join us in building an inclusive and viable tourism sector that showcases the beauty of Malawi to the world! #tourism #Malawi #AI #data #collaboration 

Challenge classification

Partners

Learning questions

Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?

We want to explore in how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning can help improve data and insights in the development of an inclusive, viable, and improved tourism sector in Malawi, while promoting collaboration among stakeholders. 

Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?

Design Thinking: It will be used to empathize with the different stakeholders in the tourism industry in Malawi, understand their pain points, and come up with innovative solutions that meet their needs. An example will be to identify the data needs of the different stakeholders, how they want to access the data, and the insights they hope to gain from the data.  Lean Startup: It will be used in the creation of an AI model that collects and maps data based on identified indicators. This will be implemented by developing a minimum viable product (MVP)/pitch deck/concept note which will be used to test the data, improve mapping processes, and use the feedback from stakeholders to refine the model.  Agile: The solution will use Agile methodology to help in iterative and incremental development. It will be used to ensure that the project activities are delivered on time and within budget. The solution path will leverage this method to break the activities such as needs assessment, hackathon, and co-development of the AI model.  Open Innovation: It will be used to enhance collaboration among stakeholders in the tourism industry in Malawi. We will use this method to do a hackathon where we will bring together stakeholders from different sectors, including government agencies, private sector players, local communities, and tourists, to generate ideas on how AI can be leveraged to improve data and insights in the tourism industry.  Value Proposition Design: It will be used to develop contextual solutions for the tourism industry in Malawi. We will use this methodology to identify the value that AI can bring to the different stakeholders in the tourism industry, and how this value can be communicated to them. 

Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?

Open Data: Usage of public comments and perceptions data available through 3rd party platforms via APIs. Hackathon: The lack of fresh innovative solutions data in the Tourism sector. Artificial Intelligence: The lack of models to collect and synthesize data for strategic insights. Co-designing: Lack of collaboration of strategic players to design

Closing

Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?

Malawi Tourism Council & Ministry of Tourism 

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