Dr Masimba Mavaza
IT was a night of pride, culture and investment at the Zimbabwe Embassy in London as Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbra Rwodzi met Zimbabweans in the UK to unveil the country’s new tourism vision and make a passionate call for diaspora investment.
The high-level engagement, hosted by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Colonel (Retired) Christian Katsande, brought together diaspora business leaders, community leaders, tour operators and young professionals.
Opening the meeting, Ambassador Katsande congratulated Minister Rwodzi on her outstanding achievements this year, especially after she scooped three prestigious awards for her transformative leadership in tourism.
“The minister has flown our flag high. She has made Zimbabwe the best destination story in the world, and as an embassy, we must celebrate her,” he said.
In her address, Minister Rwodzi apprised the gathering about Zimbabwe’s 13 cluster strategy — a deliberate move away from generic tourism marketing to focused, investable products.
The clusters include nature and wildlife; culture and heritage; rural tourism; township tourism; sports tourism; religious tourism; business/MICE; medical tourism; gastronomy tourism; study and diplomacy tourism; VFR (Visiting friends and relatives); recreational/holiday tourism; and eco-tourism.
“Zimbabwe is no longer just a place to visit during December. It must be a place you own,” she said.
She urged Zimbabweans in the UK to convert their rural homes into lodges, to build lodges, guesthouses and cultural centres, as well as transform village houses into bookable tourism products.
“You all have a rural home. You all have a township house. Don’t leave it idle. Convert it. That rural rondavel can be a lodge. That village can host tourists who want an authentic cultural experience. That is rural tourism cluster, and it is money lying idle,” Minister Rwodzi said.
She emphasised that the Government, through the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) and the ministry, is ready to facilitate bankable projects.
In the first half of the year, tourism investment grew by 229 percent to US$132,3 million, with new financial instruments such as Tourism REITs (real estate investment trusts), diaspora bonds and fractional ownership being developed by the SECZ (Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe) to allow ordinary Zimbabweans and the diaspora to own units in hotels.
Throughout her address, Minister Rwodzi emphasised culture and heritage as the anchor of Zimbabwe’s tourism.
She said Zimbabwe competitive advantage is its authentic heritage: Great Zimbabwe, its liberation history, its traditions and cuisine, among others.
“Tourism must be nhaka yedu — our heritage. When a tourist comes to Zimbabwe, they must eat our food, sleep in our villages, hear our stories. That is what our gastronomy tourism cluster, championed by our Patron, Her Excellency, the First Lady, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, is doing — and it is now our best-performing cluster,” she added.
The response from the UK diaspora was overwhelmingly positive.
