Zimbabwe’s Disney plans slated

AFRICA tourism experts have described a plan to build a Disneyland theme park on the Zimbabwean side of the Victoria Falls as “completely inappropriate”.

The idea for the development was announced by Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe’s tourism and hospitality minister, on the sidelines of the UN World Tourism Organisation general assembly, which Zimbabwe is co-hosting with the town of Livingstone in neighbouring Zambia.

Mzembi told New Ziana, the official news agency, that the government was planning to spend $300-million (R3.1-billion) on the theme park, a venture he described as a “Disneyland in Africa”.

The tourism industry is sceptical.

“Zimbabwe is a country that often struggles to do the basic things it needs to do and this cannot be a sensible suggestion,” said Chris McIntyre, of Expert Africa, a UK-based specialist operator.

“People go to Zimbabwe because it actually offers something that is authentically African. They are not going to want to go there for a Mickey Mouse experience.”

His views were shared by Lisa Grainger, another Africa specialist. “It would be like building a casino beside the pyramids. The reason people visit the falls is because it’s unspoilt and natural.”

Mzembi suggested that the project would also entail shopping malls, banks, and exhibition and entertainment facilities such as casinos.

“We have reserved 1 200ha of land near Victoria Falls International Airport for hotels and convention centres,” he said. “We want to create a free zone with a banking centre where even people who do not necessarily live in Zimbabwe can open bank accounts.”— ©