New Zim tourism brand launched in various world markets

reputation and tourism competitiveness internationally.
“Zimbabwe, A World of Wonders” replaces “Zimbabwe, Africa’s Paradise” tourism destination brand which the country has been using to sell tourism products since 1980.
A grand rollout plan for the tourism brand has seen it being launched in London (UK), Shanghai and Beijing (China), Madrid (Spain), Berlin (Germany) and Moscow (Russia).

The brand was also launched at the Indaba Travel Show in Durban, South Africa.
Officially launching the new tourism brand during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, Vice President John Landa Nkomo said the launch is part of the national branding process that Government embarked on two years ago.
He said the tourism brand is one of the six pillars of the national brand alongside exports, people, governance, culture and heritage, Investment and Immigration.

Vice President Nkomo commended the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Engineer Walter Mzembi for being ahead of everyone else and in coming up with a new tourism brand.
The brand was officially unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara during the 2010 Sanganai/Hlanganani tourism expo in Harare.
VP Nkomo said the tourism brand will help in the positioning and improving the image of the country which suffered years of attack and negative publicity.

“Zimbabwe is ready to take the world by storm and regain lost markets, both international and domestic through the introduction of the new tourism brand,” he said.
Eng Mzembi said Zimbabwe is a unique and fascinating holiday, business and investment destination which boasts of its own seven wonders.
He said the brand will be the centrepiece of tourism promotional programmes and advertising campaigns in the years to come in the domestic and international markets.
“The brand is something that Zimbabwe can distinctively claim, and every tourist who visited the country can attest to it,” he said.

“It is also relevant and appealing to domestic tourists who are constantly searching for beautiful places and experiences.”
He said the brand has been launched to involve all Zimbabweans as they are what make Zimbabwe great.
Minister Mzembi says it was now every Zimbabwean’s duty to endorse and embrace the brand by being involved in its rolling out within the country and beyond borders.

He said the brand “Zimbabwe, A World of Wonders” (“Zimbabwe – Nyika Yezvishamiso”), (“Zimbabwe – Ilizwe Lezimanga”), was built to last as it was designed with the core message to continue for years to come through different media, audiences and activities.
Minister Mzembi urged all tourism industry players in particular and commerce and industry in general to use this signature on all their collateral and other products.

“It is not just the tourism industry to carry this brand as tourism is related to all sectors of the economy,” he said.
“The brand is not only a ZTA or Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry brand, but it is everyone’s brand.” He said the rollout of the brand is aimed at integrating all Zimbabweans and to ensure that they take in and fully understand the new tourism destination brand.

Minister Mzembi added that ZTA and the Government must align Zimbabweans and its citizens with the brand, ensure everyone understands and embraces it, create ambassadors and teach Zimbabweans how to translate the brand into observable actionable behaviour.

He challenged ZTA to provide leadership and ensure that the brand is assimilated by everyone.
He directed that the brand be availed in all public places and to all Zimbabwean missions abroad.
He urged Finance Minister Tendai Biti to increase support for the tourism sector to help live the brand.

All enabler sectors were also expected to support the tourism sector to make the brand a reality and credible.
During Africa’s premier travel exhibition, Indaba, Minister Mzembi told guests at the Zimbabwean stand that the launch comes at a time when Zimbabwe’s tourism is on the rebound as witnessed by the level of activity in the country.

He said the country’s tourism has been riding on the “Zimbabwe, Africa’s Paradise” brand which has now reached its maturity and needed rejuvenation.
He said the old brand was a Eurocentric Christian phenomenon of “paradise”, which has no bearing whatsoever on China for example, which is 99,9 percent Buddhist yet it stands as one of Zimbabwe’s major markets.

This saw the shift from “Africa’s Paradise” to “Zimbabwe, A World of Wonders”.
On March 9, 2011, Minster Mzembi also launched the new brand during the ITB exhibition in Germany.
He said the brand was relevant, distinctive and believable and extols Zimbabwe’s innermost beauty, and not just the destination, but also of its people and everything else that is done here.