ZTA Looks Towards A Recovery Path

By Shingirai Vambe.

Harare-The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has received funding from Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and wish to do a post Covid-19 comprehensive Tourism impact assessment and capacity building.

The fund came at a time when the industry is facing operational challenges and it is the implementing agent of the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry’s thrust to work with players and see how best they can work on the recovery implementation framework.

Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors across the world, in Zimbabwe it is one of the four pillars of the economy and the largest foreign currency earner, having a wide and long value chain and immensely contributes to employment, livelihoods of communities and local community development.

Recently the country’s biggest tourism player, African Sun had placed over 300 employees on an indefinite, unpaid leave and again retrenching over 300 late last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and banning of gatherings, which the industry rely on for conferencing, accommodation among other activities.

Efforts to get a comment from senior group manager, Edwin Shangwa were fruitless as he could not respond to their recovery plan as an organisation.
ZTA however intend to undertake a comprehensive Covid-19 impact assessment to develop a national tourism recovery and growth strategy. This exercise will facilitate full understanding of the impact of Covid-19 to various tourism segments, demographics, loses in areas of investments, arrivals, revenues, employment, business, image and growth.

Players in the industry welcome this development as a recovery path to normalcy while edging the government of Zimbabwe to look at financial policies and frameworks that promote domestic tourism and (MICE) Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions.

Zimbabwe being one of the best African Destination, with various outstanding destinations which include the Victoria Falls, Kariba, Binga, Gonarezhou, and Manicaland among other destinations ZTA has put all its hands on the deck to recover billions if not trillions of dollars lost during the last 12 months lockdown period.

Head of Communication in the ZTA, Godfrey Koti told Post On Sunday that his organisation is doing everything possible towards the industry’s recovery path and to that effect the ZTA is inviting applicants in consulting firms, joint venture between firms and consortiums.
He added, any interested party must contact goodwell@zta.co.zw no later than March 22 2021

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