ZIMBABWE TOURISM AUTHORITY LAUNCHES SERIES OF CONSULTATIVE MEETINGS TO FORMULATE A NEW TOURISM STRATEGY
(Posted 09th February 2018)
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority yesterday launched a series of consultative meetings and workshops across the country, aiming to formulate a new tourism strategy to revive the sector which is at the core of the new government’s economic recovery plan.
The meetings will run until the 23rd of February and ZTA will then produce a comprehensive report and strategy outline on which direction the country’s tourism industry will move thereafter.
The new Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Mrs. Prisca Mupfumira said the strategy was aiming to bring together all key stakeholders and to coordinate all efforts for an all inclusive future tourism development in Zimbabwe and ensure a shared vision for tourism development. ‘This forum is the first of its kind and we are very optimistic that contributions from various sectors will add value to the strategy that will be our bible for the next 10 years or so and it is our firm belief that tourism will never be the same again after this exercise‘.The workshop dates and locations were given as Harare 08th of February 2018 at the ICC, in Bulawayo on the 12th of February 2018 at Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel, in Victoria Falls on the 15th of February 2018 at Elephants Hills Hotel, in Masvingo on the 19th of February 2018, in Mutare on the 20th of February and finally in Chinhoyi on the 23th of February 2018.
The ZTA Chief Executive Dr. Kaseke said before the launch: ‘Through bench-marking exercises, we are borrowing a leaf from South Africa which through its NTSS placed it on a path of tourism growth that immensely contributed to the economic development of the country. More so it enabled South Africa to enhance its overall destination appeal and World Economic Rankings. Likewise Zimbabwe can now set the concrete targets to unlock potential and exponential growth as we too have a tremendous wealth of tourism resources that need to be yoked towards contributing to the economy. It is our hope that there will be a resurgence of Zimbabwe’s tourism through working together particularly during this new dispensation when there is heightened interest in the country for both tourism and investment‘.
Topics on the agenda include a new vision for the tourism industry, MICE Tourism, Tourism Investment Fund and Digital Marketing. ZTA and the Ministry’s in their invitations included not just tourism stakeholders but also business associations, community based tourism enterprises, parastatals and suppliers and other actors in the tourism value chain to participate in these workshops.
