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Arts Reporter
The tourism and travel sector has the potential to contribute towards the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the cooperation of different stakeholders.
Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) president, Mr Clive Chinwada, made the call during a media briefing in Harare yesterday.
In his address, Mr Chinwada called for synergies among stakeholders for the growth of the tourism and travel sector.
“The Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe has for many years pointed out that the tourism and travel sector in this country could, and indeed should, be the major contributor to the national GDP and we believe that we should as a country be working towards this goal,” he said.
“We are gratified that in recent years this has become a nationally accepted view and that view is now by common consent considered a desirable national goal to achieve this by mid-century, which is to say 2050.
“We would like to see this goal becoming a stated national policy, with a strategy to bring this dream to reality, and we would like to commend the Government that this should be done.”
Mr Chinwada expressed confidence in the sector which has the potential to match other fields.
“This confidence in the ability of travel and tourism sector to overtake such sectors as agriculture and mining is by no means an uncommon one, given that in many other countries, the sector has already become the leading economic driver and in many other countries our view of travel and tourism is also being shared and fostered.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by TBCZ CEO, Mr Paul Matamisa who anticipates a business boom in the travel and tourism sector.
He also shared some of the challenges faced in the sector like pricing, licensing challenges and poor road networks which have made other areas impassable.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter