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Liberty Dube
ZIMBABWE Tourism Association needs about US$15 million per annum to fulfill its aspirations, among them the US$5 billion tourism economy dream by the year 2020.The ZTA chief executive officer, Mr Karikoga Kaseke, in an interview recently, said the organization’s vision was being held back by lack of funding and were appealing to Government to aid the organisation for them to set their dreams into motion.
“Our vision needs funding. This year’s aspirations have been hampered by lack of funding. Funding is the biggest problem affecting us unlike the previous years where we used to fight the wrong perception foreigners had about Zimbabwe. In recent years, Zimbabwe was perceived as a no go area, but we managed to change the negative perception into a positive one.
“However, as long as the issue of lack of funding persists, the US$5 billion tourism vision among other visions the sector has will remain a pipe dream. We strongly believe that if we get funding from Government of something like plus or minus US$15 million, that will have an impact,” he said.
He said targets and achievements in the tourism sector for 2014 recorded a big negative.
Positively, this year, Zimbabwe was awarded the 2014 World Best Tourist Destination title by the European Union Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT) for promoting eco-tourism and successfully convening the 20th session of the World Tourism Organisation General Assembly conference last year.
It also won the receiver of the favourite cultural destination distinction for 2014.
Adding to this, Minister Walter Mzembi was also appointed as an academic member of the European Tourism Academy.
The US$5 billion Tourism Economy in Zimbabwe by 2020 is Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, Engineer Walter Mzembi’s dream which hinges in line with Vision 2020 and implemented within the context of economic blue print, Zim-Asset.
During the launch of the National Tourism Policy in July this year, Mzembi also reiterated the need for funding and implementation of policies and visions.
He said: “If we have set our minds on rebuilding, on recovery, we must do so unabated. Everything becomes a dream until implementation commences. Policy launches are dreams, and will remain dreams until we start doing something, acting or implementing, and herein lies the biggest mischief in our midst today — implementation or the lack of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, more than 100 exhibitors from across the world are expected to gather in Harare for the seventh edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani Travel and Tourism Expo slated for Harare International Conference Centre from October 16 to 18.
This year’s activities include business exhibition and various tourism business fora in which players and stakeholders in the tourism industry as well as enabler service providers will be participating.
Various workshops such as culinary tourism, arts and crafts exhibition, Sanganai public days, Young professional forum, Greening the economy, Marketing Zimbabwe in various source markets and ICT and Social media will run concurrently with the exhibition.
Online Reporter