Govt reactivates tourism fund

THE GOVERNMENT plans to revive the Zimbabwe Tourism Fund (ZTF) to facilitate accelerated recovery of the tourism sector by providing industry players with affordable funding to expand their operations.

The ZTF, which fell under the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), was a revolving fund financed through levies imposed on the sector.

The authorities, however, now want to establish the ZTF as a stand-alone entity.

Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi said reactivation of the fund will inject new impetus into the growth of the industry.

“We develop tourism through what is called the Zimbabwe Tourism Fund, which has been in place for quite some time,” she said.

“But now that fund was being channelled through ZTA, which was a bone of contention among private sector players, and these are issues we are addressing.

“We are happy to announce that the Zimbabwe Tourism Fund is coming back in place . ..

“Just as the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority operates on its own, the ZTF will do the same as a stand-alone entity and will help develop tourism. This will help improve transparency.”

The law, she said, states that resources from the fund are supposed to promote tourism products.

“For example, if anyone wants to build a lodge in Binga or Kanyemba, and if there is no infrastructure, it is our responsibility to use this fund to put infrastructure for them.”

She said the fund will also address challenges around hotel room capacity and modernisation of tourism facilities.

“For the ZTF to function, we need to be supported by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion; we need information and communication technology infrastructure in place.

“This will help us to know everybody who has a tourism facility in the country; we will be able to record and keep them in the system . . . because the 2 percent levy is remitted at the point of sale,” she added.

The Government, Minister Rwodzi said, was losing revenue to rogue operators that were not remitting levies.

Official data shows that there was a 62 percent jump in international tourist arrivals from 366 062 in the January-June period last year to 591 524 in the same period in 2023.

Tourism receipts also increased by 16 percent from US$343 million in 2022 to US$397,7 million this year.

Overall, more than US$120 million was poured into tourism investments in January to June this year, up from US$96,5 million in the comparable period a year earlier.