The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe Tourism Correspondent
THE Kariba Tourism and Business Indaba (KITB) in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and Zimbabwe Republic Police recently launched the ZRP Tourism Unit in Kariba in a bid to promote safety of tourists in the resort town.In an interview with Sunday Business, the co-ordinator of the Kariba Tourism and Business Indaba, Mr Cephas Shonhiwa, said the police unit would work as ushers to the visitors in the Kariba, Chirundu and Makuti areas.
“We are very happy with the launch of the police unit in Kariba because we are now assured that tourists will be in safe hands. The police will usher our visitors to different places that they will be visiting during their stay in the country,” said Mr Shonhiwa.
He said the police unit would ensure total security to visitors, tour operators and their property in the town as well as Chirundu and Makuti areas. He said it was their mandate to make sure that visitors were well taken care of.
“The safety of our visitors is very important that’s why we have come up with this unit. We want our visitors to feel comfortable and safe whenever they are in our country. Once they know that we value their safety then we are assured that they will come back again to visit our country,” he said.
Mr Shonhiwa said this initiative was one of the ways they were trying to boost the tourism industry in Kariba and surrounding areas. He said it was not only the duty of the police to make sure that the tourists were comfortable and safe but residents should continue supporting the initiatives that they come up with.
“We would like to thank the people of Kariba for the support towards our initiatives in an effort to boost the tourism industry in Kariba. For Kariba to be the wonderful place it is today it is because of its people and I am happy to say that the people of Kariba have been accommodative and always give our visitors a warm welcome,” he said.
Besides the launch of a tourism police unit, the KITB will hold a cultural festival dubbed The Nyaminyami Festival this year which celebrates the Tonga culture. The festival was scheduled to be held last year but was deferred due to a number of reasons.
“We are very confident that the festival will be held this year as exhibitors and stakeholders have been given time to prepare for the event. The festival will be a big event that people in Kariba and around the country should look forward to,” he said.
