ZTA, VFS Global ink tourism deal
THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority ( ZTA) has appointed VFS Global (Visa Facilitation Services) to promote the country as a tourist destination in India and the Gulf region.
VFS Global is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Kuoni Group, which belongs to the Swedish private equity company EQT, one of Europe’s leading private equity houses.
The company, which was established in Mumbai, India in 2001, is an outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide.
The company manages visa and passport issuance-related administrative and non-discretionary tasks for its client governments.
ZTA chief executive officer Dr Karikoga Kaseke signed an agreement with the company’s representatives that were being led by VFS Global regional head (South, Central and East Africa) Mr Hariprasad Viswanathan in Harare yesterday.
Speaking during the ceremony, Mr Kaseke said through the appointment of VFS Global as a market representative for the country, they aim for increased awareness of Zimbabwe and establishing destination presence and visibility.
“We have not been active in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, and our absence has created room for negative perceptions to prevail.
“However, we are now ready for this market because Zimbabwe is now open for business.
“Through the appointment of VFS Global as market representatives for Zimbabwe in the GCC region, we aim for increased awareness of Zimbabwe and establish destination presence and visibility. We anticipate a rise in arrivals from GCC to over 20 000 by 2020 as VFS embarks on aggressively marketing the country,” he said.
He said they had signed a five-year contract with the company, which will commence on July 1 and that the coun- try wanted to see positive things happening.
Dr Kaseke said the arrival of tourists in the country in five years should be between 55 000 and 60 000 through VFS.
“Zimbabwe has recently targeted India as a primary market due to its potential resulting from the rapid growing disposable incomes.
“India is a huge market for Zimbabwe, hence the modest approach to target at least 16 000 Indian travellers by 2021.
“This will be done through sustainable destination marketing that will be done by VFS Global,” he said.
Mr Viswanathan said they were confident that this was going to be a success.
“As a country bestowed with rich cultural heritage, Zimbabwe is strengthening their tourism business and entering potential markets. We are pleased to partner with ZTA to put this country that has so much of untapped tourism potential on the world map for travellers from India and GCC, who can now experience the beautiful nation of Zimbabwe by promoting Zimbabwe’s tourism.
“We can positively contribute towards the brand building and the economic development of this country,” he said.
He said as part of the agreement, they would support ZTA to build a unique identity of Zimbabwe as a potential tourism destination by educating and spreading awareness to operators, travel agents and the travellers based in India and the Gulf region.
“With Zimbabwe recently opening its doors for business by undertaking initiatives to boost air connectivity and enhance investments globally, the initiative to build visibility in the key markets like India and GCC region are underway, which is evident from the increase of over 63 percent in arrivals in 2017 from both locations cumulatively on a yearon-year comparison,” Mr Viswanathan.
The company has operations in 129 countries, where 59 client governments are served. They have processed over 171 million applications since they commenced operations way back in 2001.