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Walter Mzembi

Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Dr Walter Mzembi is Africa’s candidate for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) secretary-general’s post that falls vacant in May next year.

African Union leaders formally endorsed his candidature at their summit in Rwanda in July.  He is so far the only person to have declared an interest to take up the position when the incumbent, Mr Taleb Rifai of Jordan, leaves.

Dr Mzembi has toured the world in recent months, interacting with key stakeholders and seeking their support. This week he was in France where he met influential officials and is expected in Italy in the next few days on the same mission.

He has Zimbabwe’s support as he guns for the high profile position. He has Africa’s support as he seeks to become the first African to become secretary general of the UNWTO since its formation 41 years ago. Zimbabwe and Africa are confident that he is the best person to make that piece of history.

“As Africa’s official candidate,” said Aviation, Tourism and Conservation News, an influential publication on East African and Indian Ocean tourism news, “Dr Mzembi believes that his becoming the UNWTO Secretary General will be a win for his country Zimbabwe, as well as for Africa.

Viewed by many in the world tourism industry as a unifier, eloquent, astute and visionary leader, it is no wonder that the African Union is rallying behind him. Since the inception of UNWTO in 1975, no African has ever held the position of Secretary General and if Dr Mzembi wins, he will be the first. Now many are believing that it is now time for Africa!”

We do not doubt his ability and wish Dr Mzembi, the longest-serving tourism minister in the UNWTO, a successful campaign. As Zimbabweans and Africans, we are pleased that one of us is in line for the top job in global tourism. We are also glad that he is the only candidate so far and are hopeful that no one else pitches up in the next few months to launch a rival bid. It, however, is still early days yet and we cannot leave anything to chance.

While we remain guarded in our collective hope, we also realise that whoever throws their hat into the ring between now and May would have done that quite late, thus might be unable to effectively sell their candidacy to those who matter across the globe and secure their support. This leaves Dr Mzembi in a very strong position to land the job.

He has the ability to lead global efforts to consolidate the growth of the tourism industry.  He knows the industry very well as if he has formal training in tourism or as if he had experience working in the industry before his appointment as minister in 2009.

But his star rose when he successfully campaigned for Zimbabwe to be picked as co-host of the UNWTO General Assembly together with Zambia in August 2013. His brand rose at the global stage, and more importantly that of Zimbabwe at a time when negative media coverage of the country was widespread.  Furthermore, by hosting the international event, Zimbabwe demonstrated that it is a safe tourist destination.

No wonder why Dr Mzembi received praises from the highest office in the land, President Mugabe, who in June 2014 singled him out as among his best ministers.

“I want to pay tribute to this young man they call Minister Mzembi, now the only surviving tourism minister in Africa or in the world, so he says,” said President Mugabe as he received the 2014 Best Tourism Destination Award by the European Tourism and Trade Council in Harare.

“He knows how much he still has, (as minister). I assure him, I rate him as one of my best ministers. I never say this to my ministers, but he is forthright, full of brilliant ideas that he never keeps in his mind.”

In his own words, the President rarely singles out the best from his crop of ministers and we have no doubt that this was the first time he has done so publicly since 1980. This was a roaring endorsement of Dr Mzembi’s ability and when you get it from President Mugabe you must really be up to it.

We appreciate that as UNWTO secretary-general Dr Mzembi would be serving the best interests of the tourism industry across the world, but we also hope that his presence there would, in addition to branding the country and enhancing global goodwill, help the local sector in attracting investment as well.

As a Zimbabwean, his presence at the top of the UNWTO would serve as a destination marketing opportunity for his country. A country that has one of its own at that lofty position cannot be a bad country to visit.

Therefore, he will raise the profile of the country and that of the continent.