Online Reporter
Nqobile Bhebhe in Masvingo
THE successful inaugural September Sports Tourism Carnival has laid the foundation for the event to become an annual fixture in Masvingo, strengthening the province’s position as a destination for sports-led travel and events tourism.
The four-day carnival, which ran from September 1 to 4, brought together sport, tourism, heritage and business.
The initiative added another dimension to the Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe Tourism Expo through the promotion of Masvingo as a destination capable of hosting diverse events.
The carnival featured football, netball, cricket, tennis, basketball, volleyball, boxing, marathon, pool (snooker), golf and rugby, drawing participants and visitors into the province.
In a statement, the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry said the inaugural event demonstrated the growing potential of sports tourism as a strategic driver of destination development.
“September Sports Tourism Carnival has demonstrated the growing potential of Sports Tourism as a strategic driver of Destination development, with its inaugural edition in Masvingo deliberately linking Sporting competition with Tourism experiences, Heritage discovery and Economic participation.”
The carnival culminated in an awards ceremony at Mucheke Stadium on Friday and brought together tertiary institutions, national and community teams across various sporting disciplines.
Beyond sporting competition, the event generated increased demand for accommodation, restaurants, transport services, retail and other tourism-related enterprises, providing an economic boost to businesses along the tourism value chain.
Speaking at the ceremony, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi noted the wider socio-economic value of taking major events beyond metropolitan centres.
She said Masvingo’s hosting of the carnival provided a practical model of how sports tourism and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism could disperse tourism activity, showcase provincial heritage and create opportunities for communities and businesses within the tourism economy.
“The successful inaugural edition has now laid the foundation for September Sports Tourism Carnival to become an annual fixture in Masvingo, strengthening the province’s position as a destination for Sports-led travel and events Tourism.
“The decision provides greater predictability for Tourism Businesses, creates scope for investment in supporting infrastructure and services and allows the province to build a recurring Tourist proposition around Sport, Heritage and Leisure”.
The decision to make the carnival an annual event is expected to give tourism businesses greater certainty while creating scope for investment in supporting infrastructure and services.
It also fits into Government’s broader strategy of using sport to diversify Zimbabwe’s tourism offering and stimulate economic activity across destinations, added the Ministry.
Under the Tourism Recovery and Growth Plan, Zimbabwe has identified and clustered tourism products to streamline growth, with sports tourism emerging as one of the areas with significant potential.
Masvingo’s carnival provides a practical platform for translating sports tourism from policy into a destination-based tourism product, with visitors able to combine sporting activities with the province’s heritage and leisure attractions.
Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Lt Gen (Rtd) Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe said sport had evolved beyond competition into an industry capable of contributing meaningfully to tourism and economic development.
The carnival also transitions seamlessly into the Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe Tourism Expo, scheduled for 9-12 September in Masvingo.
