HOSPITALITY Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) on Friday elected a new presidium.
The association’s elective annual general meeting saw Holiday Inn Harare’s Clive Chinwada being voted into office as president of HAZ.
Farai Chimba of the Victoria Falls Hotel was voted first vice president and Brian Nyakutombwa from Montclair as vice president.
HAZ represents and promotes the interests of owners and operators of accommodations, restaurants, clubs and related establishments throughout the country.
The hospitality industry as the largest sub-sector of the tourism industry is a major employer, earner of foreign currency and contributor to the national economy
The elective congress, which was running under the theme Hospitality Stepping into the Fourth Industrial Revolution ended on a high note.
Meanwhile, government is concerned with the country’s hotel-room stock which it says projections show would be over 2 000 rooms short by end of 2020, thus curtailing the growth of the tourism sector.
The above was revealed by Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry permanent secretary, Munesu Munodawafa, during his address to the 2019 HAZ congress in Mutare.
“New hotel developments and expansions are a key component of the tourism growth strategy going forward, especially when taken in the context that the current room stock of 6 483 may result in a cumulative shortage of about 2 087 rooms as early as end of 2020, going by projected modest tourism growth,” Munodawafa said.