Online Reporter
Leonard Ncube, Correspondent
Seasoned businesswoman, conservationist and politician Mrs Elisabeth Valerio, has built a tourism empire that offers accommodation, safari activities, cultural heritage and horticultural farming services at Gwango Heritage Resort in Dete, Hwange District, Matabeleland North province.
Her journey started in 2013 with a mission to fulfill her late mother’s wish, to protect the Presidential elephant herd that patronises the outskirts of Hwange National Park.
Unbeknown to her, she would grow to become one of the most influential women in the tourism sector.
On the almost 1 000 acre piece of land left to her by her mother, Mrs Valerio has built three properties with a combined room capacity of 48 rooms that give a natural bush experience.
Gwango enjoys a strategic location on the edge of the giant park.
The facility offers safari activities, unique game drive vehicles, night, sunrise and sunset game drives on the Gwango Concession, cultural tour, farm tour and under the sky traditional experience.
Tourists enjoy traditional dance shows done by the lodge staff at night.
A Nambya cultural museum, rare pre-fabricated game drive vehicles and an in-house farm makes the facility unique.
The property is located on the edge of the Hwange National Park, off Cross Mabale.
“We started in 2013 after my mother passed away in 2011. I think my mother thought that I had a big interest in wildlife and she told me to take care of the Presidential herd. For the first year, we couldn’t start building.
“We didn’t have big plans of building a big tourism empire at the beginning, it was more like trying to honour my mother’s memory and protect the space. It was only when we stayed here and after six moths people started coming and asking to camp,” said Mrs Valerio in an interview.
She said people, who were used to entering the virgin piece of land started asking her to build some ablution camping facilities and this motivated her to invest in a lodge.
She introduced herself to traditional leaders and this was followed by a visit by all five Chiefs in Hwange, who blessed the land, marking the start of Gwango Heritage Resort.
“On the day that they came, I was so humbled and we pledged that we were going to commit to building a heritage resort. We initially had no plans to build this place, which is called Gwango Heritage Resort, but we built it because we wanted to honour tradition and culture of the local people and this became the beginning of our tourism journey.
We thought people shouldn’t just come to Hwange to see lions but to experience our culture, taste our food and dance to our music,” she said.
Mrs Valerio has built a small museum, which focuses specifically on Nambya history and working with traditional leaders, she has helped revive Shangano Ruins in Hwange.
Mrs Valerio said she decided to prioritise the Nambya because there is already a Tonga museum in Binga.
She said the heritage centre has helped impart education on local children and tourists.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, groups of university students would do internship at the centre.
The centre also hosts local schools through the Gwango Schools initiative, which helped introduce science learning to local schools.
Gwango Heritage Resort has created hundreds of jobs with a significant number of workers being women.
Mr Victor Mpala was the first employee since the day Mrs Valerio and her husband arrived at the piece of land, where they would sleep in a car, with him helping protect them and he is now one of the top staff.
Mrs Valerio said a new product called Gobelo, derived from a Tonga word meaning “place of gathering,” has been introduced where fresh traditional farm products are produced from an in-house five-acre farm and used to provide organic food for clients.
“There are three facilities here with a total of 48 rooms. I think we are close to our capacity, we don’t want to be a hotel. We are also building a conference facility with a capacity of 200 people and that will make sure we fill hotels and lodges around and make Hwange a destination of choice.
“We are turning into an events centre as tourists from across the world gather here and are building a 200-seater conference centre.
“This is going to be an interesting year for us because we want to develop a few new products.
“We are growing rapidly and we have employed in construction, hospitality and gobelo team. For Gwango, we have tried to differentiate our culinary experiences by creating unique foods. We are building a 23-room guest lodge in Bulawayo and this will be our fourth,” she said.
Mrs Valerio is also building a school in Magoli near Dete, where ground-breaking was done recently.
She is like a soldier leading from the front and believes in opening opportunities for women.
She says woman are just as capable as men and allows them to find their niche in the male dominated environment.
Mrs Valerio has high hopes for tourism to grow and believes there is so much to do with support for the sector.
“I believe there is limitless tourism potential in Zimbabwe. For the Hwange properties, we are definitely there and there is a lot I can point at and say we have accomplished more than we even imagined.
“I would have loved to be part of the growth and expansion of tourism far beyond what we have here. Zimbabwe has everything needed to succeed, especially if we support our businesses.
“One of the biggest lessons in my life is that you can’t really predict what you will be doing with your life. I am a scientist and I never thought I would be interacting with elephants and lions. I want to encourage young people to consider tourism , it’s an exciting industry to work in,” she said.
