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Oliver Kazunga in Harare
THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) is pushing for the adoption of the uni-visa concept within the Sadc region as a way of boosting tourism among member states.
Karikoga Kaseke, the authority’s chief executive officer, told buyers, exhibitors and a media forum during the ongoing Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo on Wednesday night that countries in the region should not be fixated with promoting tourism in their “isolated corners” while creating competition against each other.
He said the uni-visa arrangement would ensure nations realise more by promoting tourism collectively.
The proposal has been on the cards for years with a number of member states still showing resistance in adopting the system.
“We’ve a serious problem that is stopping tourism from rising to new levels. Sadc countries, I think, need to address this issue sooner than later,” he said.
“Sadc countries want to compete but the tourism matrix today doesn’t require us to compete. Cooperation is critical and must be emphasised to promote tourism. This is the way to go if we can take a leaf from what is happening in East Africa where Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have formed a formidable front.”
Kaseke said Zimbabwe and Zambia were on the brink of signing a tourism uni-visa, adding this should be embraced by Sadc as a whole instead of restricting it to the two neighbouring countries that share the mighty Victoria Falls.
“This uni-visa concept should be embraced by all the Southern African countries but unfortunately some member states cite unfounded concerns like security, which I think is far-fetched,” he said.
Kaseke said by working together in promoting growth and development of tourism, Sadc countries would benefit from more tourists from the source markets such as the United Kingdom, China, America and Germany.
Meanwhile, China business network chief executive officer Dr Adam Wu told delegates at a workshop on how to reach the Chinese outbound market that owing to lack of direct flights from that Asian country, Zimbabwe had lower tourist arrivals from China compared to Zambia.
“Due to lack of a direct flight from China, Zimbabwe has not been able to attract more tourists from China than Zambia last year. Zambia had 67,000 Chinese tourists arrivals against 12,000 Zimbabwe realised,” he said.
He said it was imperative for the country to work on improving luring tourists through strategies that include learning the Chinese language and culture.
China has become the second largest economy in the world and is bound to grow by seven percent this year.
derick.khumalo