Speed up UNWTO preps: Tourism players

20th General Assembly to be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia in Victoria Falls and Livingstone.
During the 19th session of the UNWTO General Assembly in South Korea held from October 8-14 this year, Zambia and Zimbabwe won the bid to co-host the 20th session of the UNWTO General Assembly.
About 5 000 delegates from six regional commissions of the UNWTO – Africa, the Americans, Pacific Europe, the Middle East and South Asia – are expected to attend the conference.
Currently, the two nations do not have sufficient capacity to accommodate the expected number of delegates for the October 2013 conference.
According to reports, the proposed venues for the event would be Elephant Hills Hotel and the Convention Centre at Royal Livingstone. Neither venue accommodate more than 2 000 delegates.
Issues that also immediately come to mind include accessibility of the resort town by air especially in the wake of challenges bedevilling Air Zimbabwe.
It appears there has been reluctance by the Government to increase private flights into Victoria Falls and this might cause Zimbabwe to lose out to Zambia.
There also is a number of levies and regulations operators claim affect their capacity to provide an efficient and competitive package to visitors.
These issues need to be investigated and resolved in time for the general assembly.
Former Zimbabwe Council of Tourism president Mr Emmanuel Fundira said Zimbabwe should quickly come up with a clear preparatory strategy.
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president Tich Hwingwiri also noted the need to “move as quickly as possible” as far as preparations are concerned.
“It is critically important to put a plan to drive the process as part of preparations,” said Mr Fundira in an interview yesterday.
“We might have won the bid but preparing for the event is another thing. Very soon, they would be some pre-visits and we should demonstrate our (hosting) potential.”
Mr Hwingwiri said the industry recognises the need to accelerate preparations.
“From our engagements, we have recongnised the need to move as quickly as possible and we are helping the Ministry of Tourism to set up committees that are expected to come up with a preparatory framework,” he said.
Tourism consultant Mr Herbert Nkala warned that lack of preparedness could result in UNWTO withdrawing Zimbabwe’s hosting rights.
“As a word of caution, Zimbabwe won the bid to host the (Africa) Cup of Nations some years ago but their rights were withdrawn due to unpreparednes,” he said.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last week the successful bid by Zimbabwe to co-host with Zambia the 2013 United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly was positive for the country.
He said successful hosting of this event should further boost tourist arrivals.
Minister Biti allocated US$1 million for the preparations.
He also made provision to assist the Victoria Falls Town Council to address the water and sewerage issues as well as rehabilitation of roads.
“However, while the minister has made a commitment, the US$1 million is far below what the industry had been expecting,” said one tourism stakeholder.
“There is huge appetite for credit among tourism players and it will be much beneficial for establishment of a revolving fund.”
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Walter Mzembi said in an interview yesterday that a lot of preparatory work was already underway. “There is a lot of preparatory and foundational work currently underway,” said Minister Mzembi.
“At this point it will be premature to announce the plan but I can assure you that we are probably well ahead.”