Zim seeks to tap full potential of MICE tourism
ZIMBABWE has adopted several strategies to tap into the significant business potential of Meetings Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism, taking advantage of the vast tourism attractions dotted around the country to become a leading business and world leisure destination.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the value of the global MICE industry is estimated between US$650 billion and US$ 700 billion, while Africa’s is estimated to account for about US$13 billion of the total, which is less than two percent.
In an interview on Friday, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Barbara Rwodzi said MICE tourism held huge potential and other economies were growing rapidly because of it, hence the need to develop bigger facilities to accommodate people.
“Most economies have grown because of MICE tourism, look at Rwanda, they are who they are mostly because of MICE tourism that they promote in their country,” she said.
“A lot of conferences in Rwanda and South Africa and many other countries, and that’s the strategy we have taken to focus on growing MICE tourism, but we cannot grow it to a level that we want without enough facilities.
“We want a lot of big facilities that can accommodate people, in Victoria Falls we have land that belongs to ourselves as the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry under our company Mosi-oa-Tunya, which we are constructing the cricket stadium and in that same land, we are bringing up one of the biggest MICE tourism facility.”
Minister Rwodzi also said she had discussed with the Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister for Masvingo Province, Ezra Chadzamira, the need to establish another MICE tourism facility in the province.
Another one was planned for Manicaland Province.
She said MICE tourism was about people coming in numbers, eating and sleeping over, which is a branch of tourism. As such, the minister said, there was a need for big facilities to cater for them.
“Yesterday, we were in Masvingo, and before we started the programme, we discussed at length with Minister Chadzamira, as we always do, about Tokwe Mukosi, where we want to establish another MICE tourism facility,” said the Minister.
“This year we are promoting Manicaland, and we also want to have a huge facility there for MICE tourism because, as we speak now, we only have the Harare International Conference Center (HICC), which can take more than 10 000 people. We also have the Parliament Building.
“So, yes, we are very much in need of MICE tourism infrastructure and we are working with the Treasury, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Professor Mthuli Ncube, his team and our ministry to ensure that that is catered for.”
To promote tourism in all the provinces, Minister Rowdzi said the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo would be held in a different province every year, with Mutare set to host the year’s edition.
Tourism has become a key contributor to the economy, accounting for 15 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024, surpassing traditional economic pillars like mining and agriculture.
This milestone underscores the sector’s resilience and strategic importance in diversifying Zimbabwe’s economy, aligning with the government’s Vision 2030 goals.
-herald
