‘TOURISM ALLEVIATES POVERTY’
THE Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry permanent secretary, Raphael Faranisi, said the tourism sector has great potential for poverty alleviation and community empowerment.
Speaking at a seminar on Community-Based Tourism Development in Zimbabwe, he said the sector is a low-hanging fruit which can significantly contribute to the economic growth of the nation.
“The Government of Zimbabwe greatly appreciates the support provided by the government of Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to facilitate community participation in mainstream tourism, ensuring no one is left behind.
“There is room to increase arrivals from this market given the excellent levels of cooperation between the two countries.
“The ministry has been actively involved in ensuring that communities participate in tourism as enshrined in the national blueprints, National Development Strategy (NDS1), the National Vision 2030 and the National Tourism Policy,” he said.
Faranisi said the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority’s (ZTA) preliminary report highlighted that tourist arrivals from Japan recorded a 78 percent decrease in 2020, registering 2 381 arrivals compared to 2019 when 20 766 tourists visited Zimbabwe.
“There was a further decrease again in 2021 where Zimbabwe received only 145 Japanese and this was mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is encouraging that more and more Japanese are now visiting the country as a result of the relaxation of Covid-19 lockdown measures registering an upward trend of 1 938 arrivals in 2022.”
He said in as much as there are good prospects for recovery, socioeconomic challenges and geopolitical crisis remain a reality.
“We have to be alive to the reality of climate change and the challenges and opportunities it presents for building and sustaining climate resilient and greener community-based tourism products.
“We can draw valuable lessons from our experience so far and best practices from other countries and regions. It is only through such an inclusive multi-stakeholder participatory approach that we can ensure a sustainable community-based tourism value chain that makes significant contributions to the tourism sector,” he said.