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Harare Bureau
Efforts to reposition the marketing of tourism in the country in readiness for the post Covid-19 environment are receiving support from the World Bank.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the financing arm of the World Bank, agreed earlier this year to undertake the Zimbabwe Destination Development Programme.

The programme, being jointly implemented with the Ministry of Tourism, involves keeping the various trade agencies overseas abreast with current public and private sector interventions.

Activities covered by the agreement between the ministry and the IFC include crisis communication during this period of prolonged uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, providing real-time verified information through a single dedicated channel that speaks on behalf of the destination.

A dedicated media and communications specialist, based in Victoria Falls has launched a Facebook page, “We are Victoria Falls”, as part of the programme.

Since its launch, the programme has helped in keeping in touch with the various trade agencies overseas. The measures also support the Victoria Falls Development Plan; development of the Tourism Satellite Accounting System to improve accounting for tourism receipts; support for health and safety post the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also encompasses a review of the tourism policy, regulations, and associated strategies for the tourism sector to identify areas that require strengthening and/or up-scaling in capitalising on the potential of tourism to drive socio-economic growth across Zimbabwe; and Destination Access, a programme that will be run in co-operation with Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development, with a view to improving air access into the country to promote tourism and trade.

The assumption is that the support will run into 2021 and if funds permit, it will extend for the next three years. The emerging consensus in the industry is that domestic tourism will provide the initial launchpad to recover the tourism industry which has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

During a recent media briefing, Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry Minister, Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu, suggested the need to support domestic tourism growth through incentives to visitors to promote travelling and incentives to players to embrace the domestic tourism segment as an important market for the sector to grow and cushion during periods of global recessions.

To this end, he believes it is important to offer packages that attract domestic tourism travel including a re-look at pricing for the domestic market.

The Government has already waived for a period of one year, the 15 percent VAT chargeable for domestic tourists and believes this will go a long way in incentivising the market.

The private sector is thus expected to complement this thrust.

Last week President Emmerson Mnangagwa was in Victoria Falls for the launch of the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy. It covers the period 2020 to 2025.

This year’s celebrations marking World Tourism Day (September 27) will be guided by the current situation on the Covid-19 pandemic and the prevailing health guidelines on public gatherings.

This year’s theme is, “Tourism and Rural Economies”. The theme acknowledges that tourism is a factor in rural community economic development. Most tourism assets are located in rural areas and this gives an opportunity for the communities to be exporters of services “in situ” thereby enabling them to earn a living from tourism. These producer communities, however, require policy support, capacity-building, and institutional linkages to fully thrive. So this year’s theme will be addressing all these issues. It is also the reason why the ministry has placed much focus on tourism development in rural communities to achieve this purpose.

As part of the celebrations, the ministry is partnering with the Chinhoyi University of Technology, which will host this year’s tourism symposium focusing on this year’s theme.

A call for expression of academic papers to explore this theme was issued by the university, underlining the Government’s commitment to ensure the promotion of participation by the academic sector in shaping policy and programmes of the Ministry in practical terms.

Last year the symposium was hosted by the University of Zimbabwe and the previous year it was held at Lupane State University.

Explaining the decision, Minister Ndlovu said: “We hope this trend will continue to give all our national universities an opportunity to participate in this regard.”