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Tinashe Nhari Business reporter
The Netherlands government has invested $100 000 towards the participation of Zimbabwe’s tourism companies at the Vakantibeurs Travel Fair in a move meant to regain lost market share in the Benelux region.
The Vakantibeurs Travel Fair is an annual event held in the Netherlands to market tourism products in the Benelux region which comprises of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg.
At a Press conference Minister of Tourism and Hospitality industry Engineer Walter Mzembi said stakeholders in the tourism sector should take advantage of this precious offer and market brand Zimbabwe in the Benelux region and to look at the issue of pricing of products carefully.
“Pricing is a key feature in rebranding Zimbabwe, for the country to become competitive in international markets and to be viewed as a safe destination to visit and spend holidays,” he said.
He stressed that the issue of pricing is affecting tourism in Zimbabwe, as some of the prices are not in line with international or regional standards, tourists therefore prefer to visit countries where it’s relatively cheaper to visit.
“The private sector will need to be in sync with Government policies to ensure effective destination competitiveness by pricing their products at reasonable levels.
“Government will take a deeper interest in making sure that the efforts of the ZTA in positioning brand Zimbabwe and the destination itself is not undermined by the private sector in terms of product competitiveness and destination competitiveness”
“If we don’t begin to fix the issue of pricing this year we will continue to sell the destination, but we will still be out sync with international trends,”
He added that standardised pricing is benefiting countries like Egypt which allows tourists to enjoy holidaying in the country charging a total of $700 for a five-day holiday which will cater for accommodation, air transport and other facilities and they have a $ 11 billion tourism economy out of that.
The Netherlands ambassador to Zimbabwe Gera Sneller said they are working hand in hand with the Zimbabwean Government to put the country back on the map in the Benelux region and Europe as a whole.
“We will continue to support the tourism sector in Zimbabwe to become more visible and to regain its lost market share in the region,” she said.
She said the Vakantibeurs travel fair will help Zimbabwe unlock various tourism and investment opportunities from the Benelux market and increase tourism traffic to Zimbabwe.
“Currently a total of 14 000 tourist arrivals in the country annually are coming from the Benelux region but this figure can increase,”
The Vakantibeurs fair will run from January 11 to 18 while Roadshows will run between January 19 to 26 this year in the Netherlands.
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