IN the aftermath of pandemic-induced hard lockdowns, the battle to rebuilding Zimbabwe’s tourism industry has swung to attracting a powerful network of international airlines — an important factor for foreign tourists. Along with this drive, Zimbabwe has returned to staging roadshows in the world’s biggest source markets to bolster arrivals in traditional attractions like Kariba. But, in an interview with our senior business reporter Freeman Makopa (FM) Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Mangaliso Ndhlovu (MN,) says far more attractions have sprouted through several developments like the new city that has been shaping up in Mt Hampden near Harare. This is where government has already relocated Parliament. He tells the Zimbabwe Independent how important these new developments would be, as the country battles to achieve its ‘ambitious’ plan to create a US$5 billion industry. 

FM: Take us through the selling points, or major attractions for Zimbabwe.

MN: We have a favourable climate. Our people, the culture and heritage are also unique selling points. A journey into Zimbabwe takes you through attractive patchworks of landscapes from the highveld, balancing boulders and flaming Msasa trees to laid back towns and lush green mountains. Here, you can spot the big five, that is leopard, lion, rhino, elephant and buffalo in its natural habitat. You can also discover world heritage listed archaeological sites, and visit one of the natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. Other impressive attractions include national parks and reserves dotted around Zimbabwe. We have the mythical Lake Kariba and the medieval Great Zimbabwe Palace.

FM: You recently met in Gweru to review tourism policies. Tell us more about this.

MN: The National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy is anchored on Zimbabwe’s vision to be a prime international tourist destination. This will be based on the judicious and sustainable exploitation of unique assets of nature, culture, heritage and the built environment. One of the key pillars for the projected growth in tourism and the ambitious yet achievable target of US$5 billion is increased investment into tourism products and associated facilities.

The government will continue to come up with incentives for cushioning the tourism industry. As enunciated in this strategy, government is committed to lead and fund marketing efforts designed to re-establish contact with local, regional and international tourism markets.

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We remain committed to promoting a private sector led tourism sector growth to provide a conducive climate for both local and foreign investors. The country will maintain its momentum in adopting strategies that conform with changing needs and demands of tourists. These strategies include digital marketing, profiling unique experiences to tourists such as cultural and experiential tourism in communities. Traditional destination (marketing programmes) will continue to be implemented to entice the travel world.

FM: Where do you see opportunities for investors into the tourism sector?

MN: We remain one of the most sought-after destinations in Africa. This is despite the bloodbath that beset players when arrivals slowed by 90%, during Covid-19 induced lockdowns. Zimbabwe has been a sleeping giant that is fast awakening. We are availing investment opportunities to local and foreign investors. Under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), tourism was identified as a priority economic sector, which has potential to contribute to national economic growth and development. According to NDS 1, the sector should contribute US$600 million to total capital investments by 2025. At the same time, the industry’s economy should be worth

US$5 billion. Apart from traditional investment destinations such as Victoria Falls, Kariba, the Eastern Highlands, Harare and Bulawayo, there are new frontiers worth taking note of. These include the new city at Mt Hampden, Binga, Tugwi-Mukosi, Kanyemba, Mazowe and many more.

In fact, these have become new tourism investment hotspots in Zimbabwe. They continue to receive serious enquiries from prospective investors. With the sector on an accelerated recovery from the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, now is the best time to invest in this industry of the future. This also comes against the background that Zimbabwe is underinvested, especially in accommodation, conferencing facilities, entertainment and theme parks. All of these are critical to enhancing the competitiveness of destination Zimbabwe. To cite specific examples, Zimbabwe is currently sitting on less than 10 000 rooms. We also have very limited conferencing capacities. This is not good for our destination.

In this regard, we are making efforts to continually reach out to project promoters, investors, financiers, operators and developers.  

FM: Which countries are Zimbabwe’s strongest markets? In terms of your marketing campaigns, what are your priority markets?

MN: The USA has emerged as the highest contributor to our international arrivals. They were contributing an average of about 100 000 tourists per year in the pre-Covid era. We are looking at regaining that market share. The UK, Germany, Benalux (the Benelux Union, also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and South Africa have also been key source markets for the destination.

We have started re-engaging these markets with the view of regaining lost ground and growing the markets. Countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, India and the United Arab Emirate have been identified as emerging markets, and we have intensified our marketing and promotion efforts. We have recently appointed nine market specific tourism attaches who will be designated to stimulating growth within the market. In some instances, we have employed various strategies to maintain visibility and awareness creation that include the appointment of market representatives. We will continue with our aggressive marketing and promotional activities within our source and emerging markets.

FM: What has been the impact of competition from neighbouring markets? We see that they are also working hard to improve their tourism products and factors like accessibility.

MN: We do not necessarily view our neighbouring countries as competition. I believe we have varied product offerings. Therefore, we should complement each other, instead of competing.

We have strengthened and improved our co-operation with these destinations, and we are mostly working on different joint marketing and promotion strategies. One of the issues that we are all currently working on is the issue of (having a) Visa regime that favours the Southern African region.

We have even set up the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, which lies in the Kavango and Zambezi River basins. This is where Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. This spectacular array of protected areas includes the 15 000 square kilometre Okavango Delta, an explosion of green and blue parched landscapes — the world’s largest inland delta, and the inspiring tumbling cataracts of the Victoria Falls, a World Heritage Site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Through this, we have even created a UniVisa system that should generally see intra travel and joint promotional initiatives within these territories.

FM: In terms of arrivals, what is your prediction this year?

MN: Our aim is to return to, or possibly surpass pre-pandemic levels in arrivals and receipts. In 2022, we performed above expectation. We registered growth in all our indicators. These include arrivals, which saw a 174% increase compared to the same period the previous year. We had an increase of 129% in our total receipts where we recorded US$910 million, and our occupancies increased to 44% from 27% the previous year. This amounted to an impressive 17 percentage points gain. Entries in our parks increased by 139%.

To put this into perspective, on arrivals, we came 156 219 shy of our initial target of 1,2 million, which we projected in our National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy. On receipts, we managed to surpass our US$623 million target by 46%. On occupancies we also surpassed the target of 35% with 9% points, while on entries into parks and museums we witnessed a massive increase of 151% from 337 700 to 846 832. We are optimist that we will reach our projected targets this year.