Vusumuzi Dube
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Hon Barbra Rwodzi has expressed Government’s commitment towards strengthening synergies with tourism industry’s stakeholders.
Over the years the relationship between the two has not been smooth due to differences emanating from retentions, licensing procedures as well as levies among other issues. In an interview on the sidelines of the just ended 16th edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, Minister Rwodzi said Government will work hand in hand with the industry beginning with creating synergies that will help address issues as they come.
“We are going to be engaging with the sector very soon. Our first engagement with the stakeholders on our first breakfast meeting of the Sanganai/Hlanganani Expo, I promised them that as Government, we want to fly together and if we are falling as an industry we shall fall together. We want to have a buy-in of everything in the industry. We will see whether them, as private players, can have 100 percent retention or we maintain the 75:25 percent retention because at the moment as you may know, the relationship has not been so strong. As such, we want to build synergies that make us one and then start discussing issues one by one, addressing it and having solutions to it,” said Minister Rwodzi.
Players in the tourism industry have been appealing to Government to review the foreign currency retention which would allow them to get a 100 percent retention. Government promulgated a policy where companies that generate foreign currency in all sectors retain 75 percent while the remaining 25 percent should be declared to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
However, due to the impact of Covid-19, the tourism industry was allowed to retain 100 percent foreign currency to allow the sector to recover. The special waiver ended in February last year when all sectors were rationalised to abide by the 75/25 percent foreign currency retention.
Meanwhile, Minister Rwodzi said Government will be reviving the tourism fund in order to enhance the marketing as well as the development of the tourism product.
“We must have a Zimbabwe tourism fund which has not been in place for so many years. With our new strategy, we are bringing back that tourism fund. It has been a bone of contention between the operators, that two percent issue falls under the tourism fund. When we receive it from any operator, its mandate is to promote and market the product and develop the tourism infrastructure. So we are looking forward to it and we are going to discuss it thoroughly during our strategic planning and put it to place,” said Minister Rwodzi.
She said in order to cover their back and the operator’s back or to remove this issue of mistrust between the two, they are going to have Information and Communication Technology infrastructure that is very strong and efficient.
“The money is for the Government but when the operator receives the money, they do not remit to us because they think they are paying us. However, they are just remitting the levy to the Government, and in turn, it is doing its mandate which through ZTA, it is to promote and market the product. We are very optimistic that once that is in place you will see a huge change in our products,” said Minister Rwodzi.
She said the fund will also aid in accessing certain tourist attractions which have bad road networks among other challenges.
@nyeve14
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