Tourism licences, permits under review

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry has begun a process of evaluating licences and permits in the tourism sector with a view of harmonising the statues.

There have been perennial concerns about numerous permits and licences, which are also obtainable from different Government departments, with a call to remove some of them and harmonise others.

Chief director in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Dr Douglas Runyowa, recently said they were working on two initiatives to be fully implemented early next year.

The first is a two-year marketing programme targeting all businesses including small operators in Victoria Falls and the other is the harmonisation of the licencing regime. The ministry is working with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other stakeholders in rolling out the projects.

“I would like to announce two initiatives that the ministry is launching with support from IFC. The first is a two-year marketing training programme in Victoria Falls and we will be kicking off in November with a series of in-person training delivered by a specialist international firm,” he said.

“The second announcement refers to our commitment made under the Ease of Doing Business to review the licencing and permitting issues faced by the industry.

“This has been raised at meetings and together with IFC and the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe, we have initiated a mapping of all licences, fees and permits that are currently required by different types of tourism operators,” said Dr Runyowa.

He said the marketing programme will be open to all businesses in Victoria Falls with priority being given to small businesses.

The training will cover a number of topics aiming to build skills in digital marketing, social media and use of trade shows and industry affiliations.

Dr Runyowa said the training will extend support to cover implementation of learnings such as software purchases, website upgrades, event or membership fees.- @ncubeleon.