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THE Tourism and Hospitality Ministry is aggressively exploring various marketing strategies to position the country as the best tourism destination in Africa, Minster Barbara Rwodzi has said.
Minister Rwodzi told the National Assembly on Wednesday during questions with notice session that the ministry has been reconfigured to align with “the mandate that we are directed by the Tourism Act.”
She said 13 tourism attachés have been assigned in eleven countries since October 2023. Nine have already been deployed to their destinations while the remainder are awaiting confirmations from the USA and India.
The tourism attachés are meant to market the country and to attend various marketing platforms where they can sell destination Zimbabwe.
“We have reconfigured the structure of the ministry as a strategy to align with the mandate that we are directed by the Tourism Act. The Tourism Act is dissected into two; domestic tourism and international tourism.
“Our mandate is to promote the destination Zimbabwe and to develop tourism facilities, infrastructure and its operations,” she said.
“Secondly, we promote the destination through the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).
“In essence, ZTA is the marketing company for tourism in Zimbabwe. Various marketing strategies are there that include also attending international conferences where we get opportunities and platforms for pitching our destination and what we offer as a destination.”
The Zimbabwean tourism industry has undergone notable development and transformation in recent years, spurred by sustainable initiatives, improved infrastructure and strategic partnerships.
The country’s strategic choice is to obtain a US$5 billion tourism economy by 2025, offering distinctive and inclusive visitor experiences in a unique, innovative and sustainable manner.
President Mnangagwa in August 2020 launched the tourism growth plan as he led the restart of the sector’s contribution to the national economy after having been heavily crippled by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy is anchored on Zimbabwe’s vision to be a prime international tourist destination based on the judicious and sustainable exploitation of the unique assets of nature, culture, heritage and the built environment as espoused in National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
The strategy is informed by the Government’s Vision 2030 to become an upper middle-income economy characterised by increased investment, decent jobs and a population free from poverty, hunger and corruption.
Minister Rwodzi added that the country is strengthening relations with UN Tourism which was popularly known as UNWTO in a bid to market Zimbabwe as a destination.
“One of the examples that I can give to show that strengthening the relationships is advantageous to us is that on July 26-28 this year, 2024, we will host the first-ever Africa Gastronomy Tourism Forum that will be held in our capital city of tourism — Victoria Falls.
“We also have digital marketing that we are currently working on thoroughly so that we can market our destination robustly outside and internationally. We want to be on all digital platforms and we want to be known as a destination as well as getting on international television channels, for example, to be marketing ourselves on CNN and Bloomberg — those popular channels.”
Another marketing strategy involves printing of magazines to be distributed on all airlines that come to the country.
Within ZTA, there is a division for the International Convention Bureau whose mandate is to bid for Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) business, she noted.
“With the new Bill that is coming to Parliament, you shall see that we are asking that division to now become a business unit so that they can only focus on bidding so that the MICE business can come more to our country.
“It is also another platform that can market Zimbabwe’s destination to be the best in Africa as well as many other strategies that we are coming up with, that include domestic tourism and many for international tourism.”
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