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The City of Bulawayo is playing host to the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Under- 20 Youth Games which start in the city today. The Games, being held concurrently at different venues across the city, end on December 14. The Games venues include White City Stadium, ZITF Halls, Large City Hall, Luveve and Barbourfields stadia, Bulawayo Athletics Club and Bulawayo Swimming Pool. Many of the venues for the Games have undergone massive upgrading to meet international standards and most of the workers engaged to undertake the work were locals.
Bringing the Games to Bulawayo therefore created employment for the city’s residents though it was just for a short time. Countries participating at the games are South Africa, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Angola, Malawi Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The games will be officially opened by President Mugabe on Sunday. The games have also brought business to the hospitality industry as many of the city’s hotels and lodges are fully booked for the duration of the games.
Zimbabwe’s hospitality is once again being put to test and we have no reason to doubt that our conduct will confirm that we are a tourist destination of choice.
The athletes and officials from the different countries should be our tourism ambassadors when they return to their respective countries and it is therefore crucial that we ensure that their stay during the duration of the Games and even after, is as enjoyable as possible. Those in the hospitality industry should demonstrate that our services can compete not only in the region but globally. We want our visitors to enjoy world class services at all the places they are staying in and around the city.
The city council on its part should ensure that it provides services of the highest standards at the games venues as well as at the hotels and lodges. It should put in place measures to ensure the city is generally clean and orderly. The police have already pledged their commitment to ensuring that the visitors enjoy maximum security.
It is our fervent hope that the patrols will be 24 hours in the Central Business District, at the hotels and lodges dotted throughout the city as well as the Games Village to rid the places of criminals. Zimbabwe has played host to big international meetings and only last year it co-hosted the 20th session of the United Nations World Tourism (UNWTO) general assembly with Zambia.
Last August, the country successfully hosted the 34th Sadc Summit that saw President Mugabe taking over the chairmanship of the regional body. It is against this background that the nation is confident that it will successfully host the regional Youth Games. We have already alluded to the fact that all those attending the Games should be our tourism ambassadors when they return to their respective countries and this is only possible if they enjoy their stay in the country.
Our wish is that many of them will stay beyond the duration of the Games so that they have an opportunity to visit our tourist destinations such as the Mighty Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo, Nyanga and many other such places. Zimbabwe has over the years been subjected to negative publicity and these games like other such meetings before, provide an opportunity for visitors to get first hand information on the previaling situation in the country.
It is a fact that many of them will return to their countries with a completely changed perception of the prevailing situation in this country. We want to once again implore each and every Zimbabwean to play his or her role to make our visitors’ stay as comfortable as is possible during the duration of the Games and even beyond.
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derick.khumalo