The government’s National Tourism Recovery and Growth Plan which seeks to revive the tourism sector and grow it into a US$5 billion industry by 2023 is set to push for the promotion of business tourism, a Cabinet minister has said.
Speaking during a post-Cabinet briefing, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa highlighted that apart from providing a Government Guarantee Facility of Z$500 000 000 and a ZW$20 000 000 Tourism Revolving Fund, under the plan, the government would drive the promotion of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE). This would see the growth of the business tourism sector.
“The… strategies also include the promotion of MICE Tourism, the wide-scale roll-out of the Service Excellence programme; health tourism, safety and hygiene protocols; and the development of a Tourism Communication Plan,” Mutsvangwa said.
The minister listed other features of the plan as a waiver of Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic tourism, the deferment of liquidation of foreign currency paid by international clients, the support for Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and the payment of money owed to tourism operators by various government institutions. The financial support is expected to enable the sector to expand, refurbish and modernise their facilities in line with international standards.
Under the plan, the government also intends to prioritise domestic and regional tourism among a number of other strategies.
“The strategies will involve domestic tourism promotion, regional tourism promotion, destination branding and image transformation, digital marketing campaign, diaspora tourism promotion and international tourism promotion,” said Mutsvangawa.
Zimbabwe’s tourism sector has been closed since March owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. This also saw major business events, which are part of the local MICE industry, being either postponed or cancelled. With some developed countries such as Germany slowly and cautiously re-opening for business events, it is expected that Zimbabwe will also begin to allow some events. The Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) has already indicated that its annual exhibition, the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show is tentatively set to be held in October under strict observance of COVID-19 measures.
The recent re-opening of the Victoria Falls to tourists after a 100-day closure is an encouraging sign for the business events industry as the resort town’s venues such as hotels host some of the major local and international business events hosted by the country.