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Golden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
THE 20th session of the United Nations World Tourism General Assembly officially begins at the weekend in Victoria Falls amid high expectations the event will transform domestic tourism and the economy.Co-hosts Zimbabwe and Zambia will enter the annuls of history as only the second hosts on the continent ever to stage the event from August 24 to August 29 2013 after Senegal first hosted the general assembly in 2005.
The two countries will co-host the event in Victoria Falls and Livingstone, the local resort’s tourism bed fellow across the mighty Zambezi River.
Private sector players have rallied behind outgoing Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi’s assertion on Monday that preparations for a successful UNWTO General Assembly were “all systems go”.
The beauty of this event lies in the potential benefits the economy stands to reap from the successful hosting of the global tourism event.
Minister Mzembi said almost everything was now in place including the two-storey building built at the conference venue, the Elephant Hills Hotel.
He said UNWTO secretary-general Mr Taleb Rifai is expected in the country tomorrow with most officials of the tourism body already in the country.
“He will jet in on Thursday and will touch down on the Zimbabwe side. Together with other Government officials we will be on hand to welcome him,” he said.
What initially seemed a pipe-dream has mutated into a huge reality that has given the country reason to believe once again that despite Western vilification over the years Zimbabwe can still stand tall and proud.
While the country’s tourism seemed on a rebound over the years after a decade of down-slide due to negative Western publicity the UNWTO General Assembly is expected to further tip the scales in Zimbabwe’s favour.
Zimbabwe and Zambia have the backing of Sadc, which in a communiqué after last week’s summit in Malawi, urged members to participate in the event.
“Summit urged member states to participate fully in the 20th UNWTO General Assembly to be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe in Livingstone and Victoria Falls during the last week of August, 2013”, Sadc said.
According to Zimbabwe Council of Tourism regional representative for Matabeleland North, Ms Barbra Murasiranwa both public and private sectors are ready and signals point to a successful UNWTO General Assembly.
“The UNWTO General Assembly is going to be a success. While there have been challenges here and there, all necessary infrastructure such as ICT development and hotel refurbishments have been completed. As industry we are happy with the state of preparedness,” she said.
Ms Murasiranwa said that Zimbabwe would reap immense benefits from co-hosting the UNWTO event due to extensive investment in the sector.
The period leading to the event saw development of road, water road lighting infrastructure, sprucing up of buildings and training of human resources.
“The UNWTO General Assembly is going to come as a major endorsement of the safety and security in Zimbabwe as a (tourism) destination.
“Many people will come and this will be a signature of how safe Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe are as tourism destinations,” Ms Murasiranwa said.
Assuming Western media will report impartially on events obtaining on the ground the UNWTO event will result in positive coverage to be beamed live and published in over 65 participating countries across the world.
Tour operators Shearwater Adventures public relations manager Mr Clement Mukwasi said reports from the UNWTO event organising committees showed that both the public and private sectors are raring to go.
Mr Mukwasi said Zimbabwe is set to realise direct and indirect benefits from successfully co-hosting the global tourism indaba starting this week.
He also said everything pointed to a successful UNWTO General Assembly with all major things in place except a few of the finer details remaining.
“The organising committee reports point that everything is now in place. From an industry point of view we are not seeing any panic, everyone is settled,” he said.
Mr Mukwasi said Government had played its part in facilitating importation of material the industry would require for tourism adventures.
He said the private sector had adequate time to prepare for the event and taken ownership of the event having been involved in the preparations since Zimbabwe and Zambia won the bid to co-host the event.
Mr Mukwasi said Victoria Falls had been physically transformed ahead of the event with all roads revamped, faulty lighting systems repaired and buildings spruced up in what will leave a permanent footprint of the event.
But it will not be just the physical side of the resort town that will benefit, but other players in the industry’s value chain such as beverages, food, airtime, retail shops and vendors of various cultural artefacts.
Online Reporter