Zim, IFC launch Vic Falls tourism growth plan

THE Government has partnered the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to launch an initiative to boost tourism in and around the country’s main tourist resort, the Victoria Falls, and help revive Zimbabwe’s tourism sector in the face of Covid-19.

The “Victoria Falls Area Tourism Development Plan” is part of the Zimbabwe Destination Development Programme, an advisory intervention launched in January and sponsored by various ministries aimed at rebooting the tourism sector. This plan will establish a road-map to realise the growth potential of Victoria Falls and the wider area, including Masuwe, in a feasible, phased, and sustainable way.

The plan will recommend detailed actions in areas such as data collection, marketing and skills development, infrastructure, and viable project investments. Victoria Falls, one of the world’s largest falls and most spectacular natural sites, is Zimbabwe’s main tourism hub and supports about 25 000 direct jobs. Travel restrictions imposed because of Covid-19 have collapsed global tourism, forcing businesses to retrench nearly 30 percent of tourism employees in the Victoria Falls area in recent months. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Munesu Munodawafa, said: “The plan is needed to support the destination’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and build longer-term resilience and pathways to growth”.

Freedthinkers, a destination development firm, will lead the development plan process. The company’s chief executive officer, Mike Freedman, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for all stakeholders to build a new future for Victoria Falls. We believe in the power of many minds to co-create a generosity of ideas, to balance conservation with development, and to respect and promote a unique sense of place.”

Freedthinkers has also been responsible for the Cape Town City Development Strategy, and the repurposing of diamond-mining town Oranjemund in Namibia, among others. — New Ziana