All set for Flame Lily relaunch

Sydney Kawadza Masvingo Bureau
Government is set to relaunch the Flame Lily flight in November that will be undertaken by the new-look Zimbabwe Airways from Harare to Masvingo, Buffalo Range and Victoria Falls.

The route, which was stopped in the late 90s, is expected to widen Zimbabwe’s tourism package while boosting economic development in the south-western region of the country. Addressing stakeholders during the Masvingo Nation Building Workshop on Friday, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi said the flights provided a choice for tourists and the business community to fly to the destinations.

“I am happy to share with you that going forward into the future and very soon, we will commence a service between Harare, Masvingo, Buffalo Range going up to Victoria Falls, what we used to call the Flame Lily product during our hey days,” he said.

Minister Mzembi urged people to utilise the facility.

“I remember at the very beginning of my term, we introduced Air Zimbabwe here and at no time it had been taken off because it didn’t have the critical load that were required to make the route viable. There is no need for you to spend three or four hours on the highway. We will also make sure that the fares are affordable. I am assured by the new look Zimbabwe Airways that there will be affordability, as well as convenience. But when the service is introduced, let use it,” he said.

Minister Mzembi took time to caution Zimbabweans against political, social and mainstream abuse of the media.

“I would, of course, caution under that pillar, a new phenomenon I am seeing in our midst and I think it is unintended consequences of social media as we embrace it. It is the kind of venom that we throw at each other as Zimbabweans. We are arguably, as a nation, inside and outside the Diaspora, we are arguably the most abusive people on each other. I think we need to check that venom, those hate speech and really stamp the sources, where it is coming from. Is it the economy, is it about politics, I don’t know,” he said.

Minister Mzembi said Zimbabweans had become very active on social media, a situation reflected in the mainstream media when the same message is re-published as facts. The nation branding programme to be run under the auspices of the Office of the President and Cabinet targets tourism, exports, governance, investments and immigration, culture and heritage (arts and sports), and people.

“Each one of these pillars have to go through some transformation of sorts and emerge with their own central brands which when added together will constitute the totality of a nation brand. The tourism sector, which is used as a benchmark for nation branding, according to Minister Mzembi, has grown from a $200 million economic sector to a billion dollar sector. I am happy to share with you that at the close of 2016, we had reached the billion dollar mark,” he said. “We are now a billion dollar tourism economy contributing 11 percent to the GDP. We are the second biggest employer in the country after the civil service. We employ, directly and indirectly, 300 000 people under the tourism sector,” Minister Mzembi said.