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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has started a tourism competition targeting youths below the age of 30 who should come up with innovation projects that can be used to promote tourism and benefit local communities.

The challenge was launched last year but because of Covid-19 lockdowns only the national event was held where Jeffrey Takunda Murungweni from Manicaland province was the national winner and walked away US$5 000 richer.

The challenge has been devolved to provinces where one winner from each province will participate at the national level.

The national finals are scheduled for this year’s World Tourism Day in September.

ZTA held an awareness workshop with youth people, majority of them learners, in Victoria Falls this morning in the first leg of engagements with young people in Matabeleland North to apprise them about the competition requirements and call for submissions.

Another meeting will be held in Lupane.

ZTA Matabeleland North regional manager Ms Tsikadzashe Mberi challenged young people to harness opportunities in their locality to come up with business ideas that can be transformed into real businesses that can contribute to the country’s national development agenda.

She said youth have an opportunity to commercialise projects that they are doing in the Continuous Assessment Learning Activity (CALA) and the new competence-based learning curriculum.

“This challenge seeks to identify innovative projects that can transform tourism. We encourage youths to come up with projects that are around the tourism sector value chain. We are looking at youth through employment creation especially in the national spirit of leaving no-one behind, especially youth and women,” she said.

The programme is aimed at encouraging youth to become tourism entrepreneurs.

Possible areas in the tourism value chain are in hospitality and accommodation, environment conservation, recycling, green tourism and any other sector that relates to tourism.

ZTA is working with Old Mutual and BancABC on the programme.

Deadline for submission of projects at provincial level is 30 June and winners will be announced on August 1.

Provincial winners will pocket US$1 000 and will be assisted in developing their ideas into bankable projects doing into the national finals.

The top three projects will win at national level and pocket US$5 000, US$2 500 and US$1 25.

ZTA has said research has shown that most groundbreaking innovations have come from people below the age of 30.

Adjudicators will look at the impact of the project idea especially how it addresses a problem, profitability, efficiency, environmental management, and should show that it will benefit the owner, tourism business and embrace tourism experience in line with the National Development Strategy 1 and Vision 2030.

Besides winning the prize money, the tourism challenge will also capacitate young people to identify business opportunities and write bankable project proposals.

@ncubeleon