Govt to mobilise funds for UNWTO infrastructure

has said.
Secretary for Tourism and Hospitality Industry Dr Sylvester Maunganidze said this at the KM Financial Solutions CEO Africa Roundtable conference held in Victoria Falls last week.
He said Zimbabwe had the unenviable task of building the requisite infrastructure needed for the event, which it is jointly hosting with Zambia.
The two countries won the bid to co-host the event at the 19th session of the UNWTO General Assembly held in South Korea last year.
Dr Maunganidze said the country has to establish a 3 000-5 000-seater convention centre, a shopping mall and one three-star and five-star hotel.
“We need a new airport, casinos . . . everything you find in a modern centre and the challenge is with you. Winning the thing is one thing, receiving (hosting the delegates) is yet another thing,” he said.
Further funding is required for upgrading road and airport infrastructure, water systems and ICTs in the resort town ahead of the event.
The two neighbouring countries have only 14 months to August 2013 to put in place massive infrastructure ahead of the UNWTO meeting.
And this comes as a UNWTO delegation is expected in the country on February 26 to inspect the sites and facilities that would be required to host a uniquely African general assembly on the continent.
It is against this background that Dr Maunganidze challenged the private sector to direct its resources towards establishing some of the critical infrastructure required to host the “generational score” event.
The investments, he said, would form part of the tourism sector’s contribution towards the vision to achieve a US$100 billion economy by 2040.
He also pointed out that it was critical for the private sector to ensure there are more leisure facilities in Victoria Falls apart from the falls.
Zimbabwe also received endorsement to host the event on the understanding that Victoria Falls had state-of- the-art medical facilities and mobile clinics that visitors would use whenever they required such services.
Dr Maunganidze said Zimbabwe and Zambia needed to make the event a memorable success considering that the chance of hosting another general assembly on the African continent would be after 384 years.
Most of the 186 members of the UNWTO are expected to descend on Victoria Falls and Livingstone next year for the event that is being jointly hosted for the first time in history on the African continent.
The occasion presents Zimbabwe with a unique opportunity to rebrand its image in the eyes of mostly hostile Western countries that are critical and begrudge the country as safe for foreign investment.