ZTA commends tourism industry revival

ZIMBABWE Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive, Ms Winnie Muchanyuka, has commended tourism industry players for their efforts in reviving the sector from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This comes after the “We Are Victoria Falls”, a local stakeholder initiative aimed at buttressing industry viability by working closely with the Government, has struck a landmark development and promotion partnership with Cape Town Tourism.

The partnership was announced at the official unveiling of the “We are Victoria Falls” destination management partnership board in Victoria Falls on Friday.
In her remarks, Ms Muchanyuka paid tribute to the city’s tourism players for striking the deal.
“We really would like to take this opportunity to commend the efforts that the industry is making to bring back sanity to the sector,” she said.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority

“We all know that tourism was one of the most affected industries during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is encouraging to see the industry leading in the efforts to revive and grow the sector.
“We are delighted to have the development and promotion partnership between Victoria Falls and Cape Town destinations. These two destination management organisations’ agreement to embark on a joint marketing programme that promotes both destinations along the theme of ‘the Ultimate African Adventure’, will go a long way in the revitalisation of tourism in the region,” said Ms Muchanyuka.

Working with key airlines and private sector operators, the collaborative campaign is set to be launched this year in order to attract shared tourist markets. This is the kind of help that the country needs from the industry to be able to propel the destination and to position Zimbabwe in the world, said the ZTA boss.
“As you may be aware, long-haul visitors of these two destinations come from the same source markets. When they do come to this part of the world they are not coming to see one destination but want to combine a lot of activities and places in one visit so the twinning of Victoria Falls in Cape Town is only natural because from here tourists can see the Table Mountain and the Victoria Falls, both in one trip,” she added.

The partnership board will be led by seasoned tourism administrator Ms Barbara Murasiranwa-Hughes who is expected to work with a wide variety of experienced board members drawn from the initiative’s local partners.
“It is a great pleasure to announce that the partnership was formally constituted in December, and we have the strong support of six founding partners,” said Ms Muchayuka.
“These are the city council, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Zimbabwe Investment, and Development Agency, Airports Company Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe.”

Ms Murasiranwa-Hughes said the founders of the campaign have worked tirelessly to research, design, and create the partnership and were committed to financially support its core operations.
The partnership is expected to work as a co-ordinating entity for tourism in Victoria Falls, pulling all stakeholders together to improve the destination for visitors, residents, businesses, and communities.

Ms Barbara Murasiranwa

The mandate of the partnership includes designing and implementing activities that support better management of the destination, as well as marketing the destination.
Its role has been directly informed by extensive stakeholder consultation during 2022. Following the launch of the partnership, Ms Murasiranwa-Hughes also announced a new partnership between ‘We Are Victoria Falls’ and Cape Town Tourism.
“A huge congratulations to ‘We Are Victoria Falls’ for bringing their vision to life as this is no small feat, and we look forward to collaboratively exploring ways to position and uplift tourism within an African context by developing ways to inspire travel between our two destinations and then share any learnings and successes with the rest of the continent,” Cape Town Tourism chief marketing executive, Leigh Dawber, said.-chronicle