By Desmond Kumbuka
Like its blood-relative foreign capital, tourism as an industry, is even more cowardly in the face of civil strife. Afflicted by daily demonstrations, a debilitating cash crunch and unending political squabbles, Zimbabwe’s battle to revive its ailing tourism industry is pitched against monumental odds.
It’s a daunting proposition, but no single organization is better placed to fight this up-hill battle than the Zimbabwe Council of Tourism (ZCT), which says it is girding its loins to reverse the downward spiral of the industry over the past decade.
ZCT is the umbrella body of all tourism related associations in Zimbabwe. These includes The Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Association of Zimbabwe Travel Agencies (AZTA) Zimbabwe Tour Operators Association (ZTOA) Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe (SOAZ) Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) Boat Operators Association of Zimbabwe (BOAZ) Zimbabwe Vehicle Rental Association (ZVRA) Catering Employers Association of Zimbabwe (CEAZ).
During a press briefing at a Harare hotel on Wednesday, ZCT president, Francis Ngwenya put up a brave face when he announced a raft of measures the council is pursuing to bring tourists flocking back into the country.
“We acknowledge a number of critical problem areas that must be tackled and addressed urgently to facilitate the revival of the industry,” he said.
He noted that issues such as police road-blocks, unfriendly visa requirements, the country’s tattered image and the need for rebranding Zimbabwe as a preferred tourist destination, and not least the current economic problems characterized by cash shortages remain major areas of concern.
“Cash – shortages have affected us big time,” admitted ZCT chief executive officer Paul Matamisa. “Tourists do not take kindly to anyone controlling their purses – it is like you are forcing them to save money they would rather spend,” he said.
He said although efforts were being make to ensure the use of plastic money where ever possible, unavailability of hard cash was still a serious bottleneck impacting especially on informal-trade areas such as arts and crafts at tourist resorts.
In its current efforts to address these bottlenecks towards reviving the industry, Ngwenya said various committees relevant to specific areas and inclusive of relevant authorities such as, for instance, the police on road blocks and the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) on accessibility to tourism destinations, have been established.
The ZCT also hailed the recent hosting by the quasi-state body, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) of a conference aimed at creating an “easier and more successful business climate for operators in the travel and tourism sector.”
ZTA is the statutory body responsible for tourism promotion, planning, research and development and is also charged with the enforcement of standards and services.
“As an authority we see our raison d’etre as being to manage and market Zimbabwe as a leading tourist destination in Africa and the world at large.
“To this end, our mission is to promote the sustainable growth and development of tourism in Zimbabwe for the social and economic benefit of the nation through setting and monitoring of standards and marketing activities”, ZTA says on its website
“Equally pleasing to us,” Ngwenya said during the ZCT media briefing, “ has been the follow-up action, which includes identification of all key problem areas and the initiation of activity aimed at eliminating or resolving them,”.
The ZTA conference was titled “Ease of Doing Business,” and according to Ngwenya, “ it was apparent that government was sincere in its efforts to create a more facilitative environment for the travel and tourism sector, recognizing that the benefits from this will be increased tourist arrivals and consequent increased financial returns to the country as a whole.
ZTA chief executive officer Karikoga Kaseke told delegates to a ZCT convention last February that preliminary statistics at hand then showed that Zimbabwe had recorded a 9 percent increase in tourist arrivals to 2 million in 2015 largely driven by African visitors passing through the country enroute to other destinations.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe this week joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World Tourism Day on 27 September 2016. The focus this year was facilitating greater access to travel and tourism opportunities and enjoyment by people with disabilities.
“This is an issue of great importance and we at ZCT support all efforts to make our travel and tourism infrastructure open to everyone. This also widens the focus to include people who are excluded from such exposure because of financial limitations,” said Ngwenya.
“While it is inevitable that people with little or no income are more focused on daily survival, the travel and tourism sector should incorporate this large number of people in its area of focus, so that greater numbers of Zimbabweans can have access to tourist attractions in their own country.”
Ngwenya said while ZCT could not prescribe methods of doing this, he hoped all players in the sector would do whatever they can to make tourism facilities and attractions accessible to disadvantaged people including those with disabilities and low income earners.
ZCT had also embarked on an exercise to ensure greater participation in the affairs of the travel and tourism sector by all registered operators in the industry.
”The current situation has been the absence of a great many operators in decision- making and day to day involvement in the work being undertaken to safeguard our sector and its future,” he said.
ZCT will be calling meetings with various sub-sector members to elicit their active participation in the development of the travel and tourism industry. Nehanda Radio
