Captains in the tourism industry, policy makers, project promoters, investors and operators are gearing up to engage at the highly anticipated Investment Forum with the aim of coming up with strategies to position destination Zimbabwe as the prime tourism investment hub in the region.
This comes against the background that Zimbabwe is underinvested especially in accommodation, conferencing facilities, entertainment, and theme parks all of which are critical to enhancing the competitiveness of destination Zimbabwe.
The Investment Forum, being held on October 14, during the Sanganai/ Hlanganani World Tourism Expo at Zimbabwe International Trade Fair ground in Bulawayo, will provide various tourism stakeholders an opportunity to interact, network and engage.
Among the objectives of the Forum is to come up with solutions on packaging tourism investment opportunities and unpacking tourism investment opportunities in Zimbabwe.
The platform will also look to create opportunities for tourism businesses to network as well as to link tourism businesses with potential project financiers
The Forum will be held at the ZITF Hall 2A from 0830hrs to 1500hrs.
ZTA Head Corporate Affairs Mr Godfrey Koti said a bumber cast of tourism stakeholders was expected to attend, adding the door was still open for any tourism interested parties to register.
“Participants who have confirmed attendance are Government agencies that include the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe among others, local authorities that include urban and rural local authorities, Government institutions that include Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage among others,” Mr Koti said.
“Because this is a multi-sectoral approach which aims to leave no one behind, we are inviting project promoters, sponsors, pension funds, finance houses (private investors), developers, operators and many others to make their registrations through charleen@ztazim.co.zw and have a say in this process,” he continued.
The platform offers the tourism industry an opportunity to re-strategies as Zimbabwe, like many other countries, continues to evolve from the catastrophic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that halted business in the last two years.
The tourism sector due to its nature of travelling and gatherings was the biggest casualty of this pandemic.
“The United Nations World Tourism Organisation ((UNWTO) noted that the global tourism industry slumped by 87% due to the COVID-19, and Zimbabwe also fell in the same margin,” Mr Koti said.
“Despite this huge decline, the industry is on tremendous recovery even beyond expectations.. There has been a growing and renewed interest from both the local and foreign investors to tap into Zimbabwe’s investment opportunities and the tourism sector.”
“This confirms the already existing notion as contained in the National Tourism Master Plan, National Tourism Sector Strategy and the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy, which recognise tourism as a key pillar in driving national economic growth,” Koti added.
“According to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the tourism sector is expected to contribute US$600 million to total capital investments by 2025. In the same year, the tourism industry is targeting to be a US$5 billion economy. To achieve this target, the industry needs to engage in an expansive approach in tourism investment supported by robust marketing to grow the necessary arrivals. With the sector on an accelerated recovery from global restrictions induced by COVID- 19, it is equally the best time to re-think tourism in terms of tourism investing and Zimbabwe is the destination.”
The Forum will run under the theme: “Thinking Investment – Explore Zimbabwe Tourism Opportunities”.
