(Posted 11th October 2026)
Courtesy of Enock Lungu / LinkedIn
Zimbabwe’s tourism story has always been rich.
Victoria Falls.
Our wildlife.
Our landscapes.
Our adventure experiences.
But I believe we are entering a period where another part of our tourism proposition deserves much greater attention: our culture and heritage.
The growth we are seeing in Cultural and Heritage Tourism is more than a positive tourism statistic.
To me, it is a signal.
It tells us that visitors are increasingly looking for meaningful experiences — not just places to see, but stories to understand, people to connect with and cultures to experience.
Zimbabwe has an extraordinary cultural asset base:
Great Zimbabwe and our archaeological heritage
Indigenous knowledge systems
Traditional music, dance and storytelling
Zimbabwean cuisine and gastronomy
Arts, crafts and creative industries
Traditional communities and living heritage
Our diverse histories and oral traditions
The opportunity is to move beyond simply showcasing heritage.
We need to build tourism experiences around it.
And, most importantly, ensure that the communities who safeguard this heritage are not merely participants in tourism, they are beneficiaries, entrepreneurs, storytellers and custodians of the value created.
Imagine a tourism product where a visitor doesn’t simply visit Great Zimbabwe, but leaves with a deeper understanding of the civilisation that built it.
Where food tells a story.
Where traditional music becomes an immersive experience.
Where indigenous knowledge becomes part of responsible tourism interpretation.
Where village experiences create income for local households.
Where cultural entrepreneurs connect directly into the tourism value chain.
That is how heritage tourism can become more than an attraction.
It becomes an economic ecosystem.
As tourism professionals, perhaps our question should no longer be:
“What new attraction can we build?”
Perhaps we should be asking:
“What stories, traditions and cultural assets do we already have and how can we responsibly transform them into world-class tourism experiences?”
Zimbabwe does not need to invent a new identity for the world.
We need to tell our existing story better.
Our heritage is not simply our past.
It can be part of Zimbabwe’s tourism future.
I would be interested to hear from my network:
What cultural or heritage experience in Zimbabwe do you believe has the potential to become a globally competitive tourism product?
