National tourism policy review consultations begin

THE Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, has commenced countrywide consultations to gather stakeholder input towards the review of the National Tourism Policy (NTP).

The review process seeks to realign the policy with the goals of the Second Republic, taking cognisance of emerging and future tourism trends.

The NTP was crafted in 2014 and has outlived the normal policy lifespan of five years. Government has directed all ministries, departments, and agencies to reflect and come up with policies that redefine the course of action to propel their sectors to great heights.

Under the National Development Strategy (NDS1), tourism is one of the critical pillars of Zimbabwe’s economy and the sector has a target of achieving US$5 billion earnings by 2025.

Speaking during a consultative NTP review workshop in Gweru yesterday, Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry Minister, Mangaliso Ndlovu, said deliberations will help policymakers in repositioning the country as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations.

“Whenever we want to come up with a strategic framework or shift that guides the development of Zimbabwe, we should employ a bottom-up approach,” he said.

“This, therefore, requires us to engage with stakeholders and the community at large. This is the only way to ensure collective ownership of the country’s vision and aspirations.”

The minister said tourism has great potential and capacity to make significant contributions to the national economy.

He noted that from January to November 2022, the sector registered an increase of 163 percent in tourist arrivals from 340 000 in 2021 to 895 338 in 2022.

Similarly, tourism receipts increased by 133 percent from US$288,8 million in 2021 to US$672,9 million in 2022.

“In addition, tourism investments rose by 239 percent from US$90,4 million to US$306,7 million, compared to the same period in 2021,” said Minister Ndlovu.

“The average hotel room occupancy also showed significant growth in the first eleven months of 2022, as it grew by 17 percent from 27 percent in 2021 to 44 percent in 2022. The above statistics show a positive growth in tourism, especially post the Covid -19 pandemic, which had devastating effects on the sector.”

The minister said the review process comes at a time when climate change is at the centre of all economic activities, stressing the need to design policy measures that address climate resilience and sustainable environmental programmes.

“It, therefore, becomes imperative that we carefully reflect on how best to capture all these elements in a revised tourism policy, which should be, in line with Second Republic’s philosophy: ‘leaving no one and no place behind’,” he said.

Zimbabwe will have to leverage competitive advantages to market its unique tourism products while promoting the culture and heritage of the people of Zimbabwe.

Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu

Government, through the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), has vowed to work hard to ensure Destination Zimbabwe is well marketed globally to attract more numbers to other resort areas other than the popular Victoria Falls, Kariba, Matopos, and Great Zimbabwe.

“There are many other tourist places that can offer that personal experience far away from the globally known products.

We, therefore, need to ensure that our policy review ensures that we have frameworks to promote such attractions,” said Minister Ndlovu.

He said the Midlands, for example, has many underexplored tourist attractions such as the Antelope Park, Gweru Military Aircraft Museum, St Theresa Cathedral, and the Danamombe monuments.

“These are just examples of tourist gems and nuggets that we have in the Midlands Province,” said the minister.

“This is the very basic reason why I had to direct my ministry to deploy tourism officers right across all provinces in line with the Government policy on devolution. It’s my desire that these officers lead in local tourism development efforts.”

The consultative engagement programme is expected to move to Bulawayo today.-chronicle.co.zw