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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
GOVERNMENT is committed to refurbishing historical monuments to promote legacy tourism in the country.
Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Priscah Mupfumira said Government will put in place budgets for resuscitating some of the country’s historic monuments as part of the legacy tourism.
Speaking during her visit to the Joshua Nkomo Museum in Pelandaba on Thursday, Minister Mupfumira said historical tourism was big business the world over and Zimbabwe has taken a deliberate step to tap into the sector.
“We are focusing on historical tourism, a lot has happened in the country, we sometimes talk about some of the things but we don’t have structures connecting people to these historical sites,” said Minister Mupfumira.
“That is why we are involved in legacy tourism, where we will be looking at the battle of iphuphu (fierce battle between Ndebele and white colonialists at the end of King Lobengula’s rule), it’s a historical issue at Ngoma where many people were killed during the war. We are making sure that it becomes part of the tourism trail. Chinhoyi Seven heroes, we have already started making the place a monument so that our people know where these seven heroes are buried.”
She said the Ministry was going to visit all the historical sites and transform them into attraction sites for travellers.
Minister Mupfumira said Government was working on funding modalities for the historical legacy tourism which will attract both domestic and foreign tourists.
She said this year’s Sanganai/Hlanganani Travel Expo which focused on the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo’s life was a glimpse of what Government intends to perfect in terms of legacy tourism.
“So it’s something which will be put in our budgets so that in the restoration process renovations are done making it accessible so that the world can know.
Our interest is in domestic tourism for school children to understand where we are coming from,” said Minister Mupfumira.
She said Government intends to maintain the originality of legacy structures while modernising them.
“Government has budgets for that and it will be in our budgets for next year to make sure we facilitate that it becomes a permanent feature. There are certain aspects that cannot be renovated, when we are talking about history but there are some things that we can refurbish to maintain the original structure. It’s an inter-ministerial issue but my interest is domestic and international tourism,” said Minister Mupfumira.
— @nqotshili
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