Zimbabwean President Emerson Mnangagwa (muffler around his neck) has unveiled the country’s Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy which will help rejuvenate the sector on 6 August.
The tourism and hospitality industry is one of the key foreign currency earners in the country and employs thousands of people along the value chain. Launching the document at Zimbabwe’s tourism capital, Victoria Falls, the the southern African country’s leader underscored the importance of the tourism sector to the economy and the need to also develop sustainable tourism products.
‘’The National Tourism and recovery growth strategy we are launching today is anchored with Zimbabwe’s vision to be a prime international tourism destination based on judicious and sustainable exploitation of the unique assets of nature, culture heritage, and the built environment,’’ President Mnangagwa said.
‘’The strategy is informed by my Government’s vision 2030 to become an upper-middle-income economy characterized by increased investment, decent jobs and a population free of poverty and corruption,” he added.
“The high growth target of this strategy, which seeks to achieve a US$5 billion tourism economy by the year 2025 is ambitious and yet achievable. This strategy will also facilitate robust investment in the tourism sector to create employment and help support livelihoods,” he stated.
The Government two months ago availed a $500 million guarantee facility for the sector players to access to support Covid-19 affected entities to stay afloat and save jobs.
The Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry, Mangaliso Ndlovu, said the launch of the new tourism recovery strategy was historic. Coming on the back of projected tourism drop in arrivals and loss of billions in potential revenue globally, there was a need to come up with urgent measures to counter the impact hence the strategy launch.
