Zimpapers Logo

Prince Sunduzani, Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has stepped up its efforts to promote ease of doing business as most of its services can now be accessed and processed online.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority’s investment seminar held at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair exhibition centre in Bulawayo yesterday, ZTA chief operating officer Mr Givemore Chidzidzi said tourism clients can now access a number of services online including making payments and applying for various permits.

He said this was part of a raft of measure put in place by the authority to decentralise its operations and ensure efficiency as well as convenience for operators.

“We have launched an online registration system so one just has to go on the ZTA website and have a menu of what one wants to do. We are striving to digitise our processes as much as possible. This brings convenience to the operators in that they don’t have to come to our offices frequently if they want to revenue their licences, remit their levies and so on. We are in the process of providing all our services through digital platforms,” said Mr Chidzidzi.

Government has said under the new economic order, it is committed to enhancing the ease of doing business. ZTA has made great strides towards ease of doing business and earlier this year they announced that players in the sector can register their businesses with the authority within an hour of submitting their applications.

Mr Chidzidzi said the re-engagement efforts being spearheaded by the parent ministry have started bearing fruits as evidenced by an increased number of tourists and organisations interested in visiting the country.

He said as a result of these efforts, there was an imminent boom in the tourism sector, which the country is set to benefit from.

“The Ministry of Tourism has been going around the globe as part of its re-engagment programme.

We are saying that Zimbabwe should brace for an upsurge in tourism. The popularity of the destination is there, we are seeing it and the acceptance of Zimbabwe by the international community will obviously result in more tourists visiting the country,” said Mr Chidzidzi.

Zimbabwe has set a target of at least 2,8 million foreign tourist arrivals by December compared to about 2, 4 million in 2017.

@PrinceNkosy102