Serious brain drain in tourism sector

ZIMBABWE is losing strategic hospitality and tourism workers at an average of 30 per day to cruise ships firms and to countries such as the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, industry players have said.

The flight of personnel such as chefs and game guides was highlighted during a Zimbabwe Newspapers 1980 Limited (Zimpapers)’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry Meet Tertiary conference that was held in Bulawayo on Monday.

It was held under the theme “Rethinking the future, tackling the skills gap.”

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive officer, Ms Winnie Muchanyuka told delegates that at a Western embassy in Harare, she was told that they process an average of 30 visas per day for hospitality workers who would have been hired by cruise ship firms.

“We have good wealth of skills in the country but now post Covid-19 pandemic we are experiencing a serious brain drain in the sector. At the moment there is a serious rush of people joining cruise ships,” she said.

“Last year in September at the American Embassy in Harare, I heard that about 30 visas are processed per day for people who would have been recruited to work in boat cruise firms. If per day they are giving out 30 visas, imagine the level of brain drain in the industry.”

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president, Mr Farai Chimba, concurred saying low wages for the hotel and restaurant workforce was among the major reasons for the massive brain drain in the hospitality industry.

He said the migration of qualified and skilled labour to the international market and the region is worrying.

“It is said that over 600 hospitality personnel are working in Dubai. The cruise companies have taken over 2 000 positions and continue to do so,” he said.

Mr Chimba said skills retention strategies are key for specialised and general labour hence the need to evaluate remuneration. He said employers should also be encouraged to revive hotel management development programmes, which they used to run.

As an engine of growth for the Zimbabwe economy, Mr Chimba said the hospitality sector needs synergies, which aim to create additional new jobs and provide job opportunities for youths in all the provinces to stimulate and improve the quality-of-service delivery of the hospitality sector.