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COMPETITION between the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry has now come to an end, thanks to the coming in of new permanent secretary, Ms Florence Nhekairo, ZTA chief executive officer, Karikoga Kaseke has said. Speaking at Forest Hills Resort in Vumba last week where stakeholders had converged to review the Tourism Act which is bound to be aligned to the new Constitution, Kaseke said his organisation was ready to work as a team with the ministry for one common cause. He said this after some stakeholders queried how ZTA and the Tourism ministry intended to end the competition and clashes which were “glaring” and “perceptible”.
“I can confirm that there was a lot of competition between us and the ministry. That’s water under the bridge. We are now working as team. “The coming in of Ms Nhekairo has brought everything into place and what was happening is now a thing of the past. “It is now part of our history,” said Kaseke.
The two-day workshop saw stakeholders debating on issues that needed to be addressed and amended in the Act and be aligned to the new Constitution. The Act was last amended in 1996.
Kaseke said the Act would require minor amendments in order to enhance the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the ZTA. “The Act has been one of the best. Most of Regional Tourism Organisation for Southern Africa (RETOSA) such as Namibia, Botswana and Zambia adopted our Act. It is however, unfortunate that lack of funding has hindered effective marketing of the country regionally and internationally,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Anastancia Ndhlovu, whose speech was read on her behalf by Ms Nhekairo, said her Ministry came up with a new National Tourism Policy last year which had a number of policy pronouncements which would need to find their way into the sector’s supreme legislation.
“There are new things that are in the policy that is not in the Act and these include Domestic tourism. We encourage people to visit their areas and know their country. Locals should feel free to visit our tourist attraction areas,” she said.
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