Harare has over 150 000 formally registered SMEs

PLAYERS in the tourism sector should be innovative to continuously improve products on offer and boost arrivals, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Speaking during an awards ceremony at the just-ended 16th edition of the annual Sanganai/ Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi said destination marketing strategies were producing positive results.

“The performance of the tourism sector has improved significantly during the first half of 2023, where in the country we registered an increase of 62 percent international tourist arrivals, from 366 000 in 2022 to 591 000 in 2023,” said Minister Rwodzi.

Tourism receipts increased by 16 percent from US$343 million in 2022 to US$397 million, while tourism investments registered a 24 percent increase from US$96,5 million in 2022 to US$120,1 million in 2023 in the period in question.

Minister Rwodzi, however, noted the need for aggressive marketing to achieve more.

“While there is positive growth in Zimbabwe, we still need to enhance our marketing strategy. We were told during the session for investment, by delegates from Dubai, that with their experience across the African continent, they noticed and realised that Zimbabwe has good infrastructure for tourism. We have good hotels and roads compared to other countries in Africa. However, they noted that we lack in marketing and promoting our destinations, which is our responsibility as Government through the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) to expand outreach programmes, in line with international best practices.”

Minister Rwodzi thanked the Tourism and Hospitality Industry patron, First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, for spearheading gastronomy tourism, which is now a destination marketing tool.

“I wish to inform you that we have been developing a new tourism product in the country in the form of gastronomy tourism. Our patron, the First Lady, began this journey in 2019. She spearheaded and launched a gastronomy competition in Harare and from 2021, she started cookout competitions across the country’s 10 provinces, with a grand finale in one of the provinces.

“The second edition ran last year in all provinces and she has now handed over the programme to the ministry. It is through this initiative that the First Lady of Zimbabwe was invited by UNWTO, together with the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry and staff, including the ZTA, to the Eighth World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism conference that took place in Spain a week ago. She was invited to be recognised and honoured,” she added.