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Sikhulekelani Moyo, Business Reporter
PLAYERS in the tourism sector in Bulawayo have appealed for increased Government support towards rehabilitation of dilapidated heritage sites that attract tourists, as well as decentralisation of administrative services for smooth business operations.
Contributing during a tourism stakeholder engagement workshop hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry in the city on Wednesday, tourism industry representatives submitted several views, which they hoped will be taken into consideration.
Presenting their group findings in a plenary session, tourism players said renovation of dilapidated sites, will help to promote township tourism and they said players will need to partner with local authorities to promote community tourism.
“We know that Bulawayo has a lot of national heritage sites and monuments. We appealing for Government support for the renovation of dilapidated tourist sites,” said Ms Zinzile Sibanda who spoke on behalf of group one.
“So, we would like to see Government come along to develop these sites so that they can be able to yield economic development and benefit the surrounding communities.
“Policy must also speak on the decentralisation of the regional offices to allow people in different areas to access offices in their districts.”
The participants also said Government policy should be clear on measures to provide financing of small and medium players in the sector so as to empowerment of women and youths in tourism.
Some called for the introduction of green initiatives that anchor the sector on climate change mitigation and sustainability path in order to preserve jobs.
The need to embrace technology in the processing of critical documents like visas and licenses was also underscored as players urged speedy digitisation of all key regulatory procedures.
Group two representative Mr Phinious Chauke said Government policy should encourage the development of products and marketing strategies suitable for both domestic, regional, and international markets.
“We want to focus on everyone. So, we need products and marketing strategies that accommodate all the markets,” he said.
The group also suggested development of a harmonised model that promotes all types of tourism, including cultural tourism, which is community-based, sports tourism, agriculture tourism, and meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) tourism.
They said ports tourism could leverage Queens Sports Club for hosting high-level international games but said such facilities need to be upgraded to match global standards.
The participants also said the growth of the tourism sector must be buttressed by the resuscitation of industries.
Under the National Development Strategy (NDS1), tourism is one of the critical pillars of Zimbabwe’s economy and the sector has a target of achieving US$5 billion in earnings by 2025.
In an interview, Acting Director in charge of international tourism and cooperation in the ministry, Mr Douglas Mavhimbu, said the policy review process seeks to align the tourism sector operations with the national vision.
“It’s important for the nation to understand that in the past eight or so years we have gone through a number of processes and changes, some occasioned by the macro-economic environment and also what is happening technologically out there,” he said.
Mr Mavhimbu said the turnout in the engagement meeting was impressive as they managed to get critical views. The consultative engagement programme is expected to move to Victoria Falls today.
The consultative dialogue was part of countrywide engagements to gather input towards the review of the National Tourism Policy (NTP), which must be realigned with national priorities under the Second Republic, taking cognisance of emerging and future tourism trends.
The NTP was crafted in 2014 and has outlived the normal policy lifespan of five years.
The Government has directed all ministries, departments, and agencies to reflect and come up with policies that redefine the course of action to propel their sectors to great heights. – @SikhulekelaniM1.
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