Vusumuzi Dube
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE just ended 16th edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo has refined the landscape for tourism investment with the launch of a Tourism Investment matchmaking platform, speed networking sessions as well as the hosting of an investment indaba, heralding some of the strides made towards luring more investors in the sector.
The launch of the platform was done during the second edition of the Zimbabwe Tourism Investment Forum which was hosted by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) in partnership with the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) on Friday.
The forum was held under the theme, “Tourism Investment — Re-imagining Sustainable Partnerships”.
Speaking during the conference, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Honourable Barbara Rwodzi said it is Government’s vision to create an inclusive tourism industry that uplifts communities and promotes sustainable development.
“I am pleased to announce the Government’s continued support of promoting investments in the tourism sector. By supporting this initiative, we are creating an enabling environment that encourages investment, job creation, and sustainable resource management.
“It provides equal opportunities for all stakeholders to participate and benefit from the tourism sector.
It serves as a space for local and foreign investors, operators and communities to explore and access tourism investment opportunities,” said Minister Rwodzi.
She further called on investors to take up various opportunities that are wide spread in various sectors of the industry.
“Opportunities for investment in Zimbabwe are rife especially in accommodation, conferencing facilities, entertainment, theme parks, and so on. Currently Zimbabwe has 14 034 rooms and very limited conferencing capacity. This shows the high magnitude of the investment opportunities that we have in this sector,” said the minister.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive officer, Ms Winnie Muchanyuka said the tourism sector can generate foreign currency for investors.
“If we look at current facilities that we have, we need to understand that visitors that come to Zimbabwe spend two or three nights and because there is nothing else to do they pass through to the next destination. But what we would like to see is more investments in activities to give our tourists more reason for them to stay in Zimbabwe.
“We are also missing out especially in the MICE (Meetings Incentives Conference Events) sector. The convention facilities that we have no longer speak to the demand that is there in the MICE sector both locally and internationally.
“We get a lot of enquiries about international conferences that want to come to Zimbabwe as well as international exhibitions but we do not have multi-purpose facilities that can meet the demand that we have,” said Ms Muchanyuka.
With last year’s investment value standing at US$312,5 million, Ms Muchanyuka said investments have been flowing into predominantly restaurants like fast-food outlets which took about 49 percent of that value. There have also seen investment in activities, hotels, lodges and motor vehicles for safari operations.
Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe, president Mr Wengai Nhai said the expo refined the tourism investment landscape in the country as most financiers did not understand the tourism value chain hence shunning the sector.
“The tourism industry has been regarded by some as an informal sector to the extent that we had critical stakeholders like banks and some other financiers who really did and still do not understand how the tourism value chain is structured which then brought about challenges in as far as financing and funding is concerned.
“The is because they need to understand the product lifecycle of any product that we have, the law and tenure and other respective interventions. So the investment forum was a good platform where we had key stakeholders who took time to understand all these issues. We hope that this will unlock tourism potential through investments,” said Mr Nhai.
Zida CEO Mr Tafadzwa Chinamo said the Tourism Investment Matchmaking Platform is designed to bring together tourism promoters and investors seamlessly and efficiently.
“Our goal is to make it easier than ever for investors to find the right opportunities in the tourism sector, and for promoters to access the capital and expertise they need to grow their businesses.
“On the other hand, our platform allows local and international investors to connect with tourism promoters in Zimbabwe and express their investment interests to them. To access the platform, investors and tourism promoters need to register and submit relevant information, such as their contact details, investment objectives, and additional information as per each interest,” said Mr Chinamo.
Online Reporter