#Ungaphi campaign boosts local tourism

THE domestic tourism campaign trajectory taken to Bulawayo, spearheaded by the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Barbara Rwodzi, was a great initiative to educate locals on the importance to visit local tourism destinations.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation, (UNWTO), defines domestic tourism as residents of a country traveling within their own country for recreational, leisure, business, and other purposes.

Domestic tourism involves activities such as visiting tourist attractions like Victoria Falls, Matopos, Nyanga, Mana Pools etc, participating in cultural events, and engaging in outdoor activities in different provinces or cities within Zimbabwe.

The effervescent festive season domestic tourism campaign ZIMBHO dubbed #Uripi #Ungaphi, intended to revive domestic tourism in Zimbabwe was commendable.

However, the resuscitation of domestic tourism in the country needs a significant amount of time to stimulate and encourage local residents to play a part.

The campaign should have been vigorously promoted at the beginning of the year to prepare for the festive season and to enable locals to have ample time to twig what domestic tourism is all about.

Nevertheless, for domestic tourism to improve, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and other respective stakeholders have a lot of work to do to find permanent solutions to the debility of local tourism.

There is a need to conduct a systematic empirical research to have a profound indulgence of the residents’ knowledge about tourism and attractions in Zimbabwe, purpose of travelling to tourist destinations, preferences, tastes, attitude and behaviour towards tourism, tourism products and services that appeal to the residents.

As a consequence, when all of the highlighted elements are earnestly addressed, it will be beyond doubt that the respective stakeholders will have a rock-solid foundation towards the revitalisation of domestic tourism as a long-term recovery and resilient strategy.

Going forward, Minister Rwodzi will need robust support to address pertinent issues to help her esteemed office to address the fissures in domestic tourism.

It is essential to engage local residents (communities), the government and business clusters such as tour operators, travel agencies, hotels and lodges etc.

Efforts have to be made to deal with such acuities and make domestic tourism inclusive of a broader populace from all social and economic classes if domestic tourism is to be successful in Zimbabwe.

Thus, as a recommendation, I would suggest that the ZTA had better explore unique promotional strategies that can be used to stimulate domestic tourism in the country.

It is imperative that ZTA uses travel and trade show platforms to not only promote international tourism but domestic tourism as well.

Tour operators and accommodation establishments should usher local rates that are comparatively lower and offer discounted prices targeted at domestic tourists.

Lastly, policymakers need to redeploy attention on promoting tourist destinations to the locals, and to come up with customised tourism products that are affordable for the domestic market as well as dispelling the myth that travelling is only for the wealthy and the affluent members of society.

λ Simbarashe Murima (PhDc)writes in his own capacity as an education, tourism and hospitality expert in Namibia and Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on 0781480742/ +264814571709 (WhatsApp).