Communities encouraged to assist in tourism

Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
TOURISM and Hospitality Industry Deputy Minister Anastancia Ndhlovu says more needs to be done to promote community participation in tourism through strengthening community based tourism enterprises (CBTEs).

Reports indicate that out of 89 CBTEs only 50 have remained operational in the country.

The Deputy Minister told participants during a community based tourism enterprises strategy document consolidation workshop in Masvingo yesterday that CBTEs were an integral empowerment component under the country’s blueprint, Zim-Asset.

“As a ministry we undertook benchmarking visits to other countries as well as countrywide surveys, which have provided important information on CBTEs, those that were operational as well as possible new ones.

“We’ve 89 CBTEs in the country but only 50 are functional,” she said.

“We seek to empower communities so that they can actively participate and benefit from value addition and beneficiation of tourism resources that are resident in their environs.”

Ndhlovu said there was a need for human resource development where members are equipped with various skills so that they can run their enterprises viably.

“The document we’re crafting today will come up with capacity building tools, which will help in taking CBTE members through specific trainings.

“We seek to capacitate communities to own and viably manage their enterprises, develop diverse and unique tourism products and services that they can successfully market to domestic and international market,” she said.

“We’re also doing this to create employment, thereby increasing household income and promoting sustainable development and management of natural resources in communities.”

Ndhlovu said tourism remains a low hanging fruit that the community can easily access to their competitive advantage.

She also challenged local authorities and companies operating within communities to support the CBTEs so that they will realise their objectives of poverty alleviation through employment creation.

CBTEs are projects owned and run by communities in partnership with other agencies and offer services to tourists.