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An image painstakingly built over a number of years through deliberate perception management can all vanish in a moment. It takes more to build than it takes to pull down. It is against this background that we need to jealously guard and continuously seek to improve our image right from personal branding to corporate and national branding.
Zimbabwe has that unique opportunity this week to project our desired image and reinforce that which we seek to market and be known for around the world.A� This is because the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo has brought together different nationalities while at the same time in Harare the Harare International Festival of the Arts has also drawn artistes from around the globe to come and feast on a cultural jamboree while also sampling our hospitality.
It is on the latter that we wish to make a plea to Zimbabweans.A� When one throws a feast the tendency is always to put the best foot forward, serve the best wine, so to speak. It is not enough for Bulawayans to expect the mayor of the city to represent them fully to the foreign visitors.
He can play the official role expected of him and welcome visitors through a statement but it takes the outstretched hands of the residents of the city to make the visitors feel truly welcome and translate the statements into a lived reality. We are aware of how our tourism industry has recorded gains following years of decline due to various forms of publicity. Let us make the visitors to the two cities ambassadors for our country and cities by ensuring their safety and feting them to a point that inviting their fellow countrymen and women would be a natural thing for them to do.
We would like to urge that right from the ports of entry to the lodgings where these people are accommodated and the places where they will hang around, we show them true Zimbabwean hospitality and go the extra mile to make them comfortable. There shall be no angel from Heaven or a being from another planet that shall come down to promote our country as an investment and tourism destination.
It takes me and you, and no positive contribution is considered too little. We have had results of studies on the ranking of our countrya��s hospitality suggesting that there were some areas that needed improvements such as unnecessary bottlenecks at ports of entry and highways. We would rather all Government departments and private sector line up with the vision of the country to promote brand Zimbabwe and avoid cases of some institutions sticking out like a sore thumb.
It is our hope that our visitors feel welcome along our roads, at hotels and other service areas. It is our belief that this time of the year is a perfect time for the country to show the world what we are all about and also stave off some reports about the country that may not have been based on fact. Those who take the marketing opportunity seriously will reap rich rewards as you cannot have another platform where such a large group of people of different nationalities is found in a city or two. We wish the visitors a pleasant stay in the country and urge them to visit again and inform those back home that our country is open for business.
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Online Reporter