The Sunday News
INTERNATIONAL buyers have urged Zimbabwe to deploy more ambassadors to tell its own true story and not let other people spread distortions about the country which have done more damage to its image.
In an interview with Sunday Business, buyers, who were in the country for the A’Sambeni expo and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair that ended in Bulawayo yesterday expressed, satisfaction at the destination’s products and said they were pleasantly surprised at the tourism sector in the country.
ExecuPlaytime Leisure and Travel South Africa chairman Mr Thabiso Magodielo said what makes Zimbabwe as a destination stand out was that the product caters for a broad spectrum of the market.
“The product is not only alive and exciting but caters for the leisure market as well as the adventurers, the romantics and the businessmen. Whether you are a big spender or you have an average or low budget, you are bound to find something that will catch your eye in Zimbabwe and that is what makes this destination unique,” said Mr Magodielo.
He said what was important was that a product evolves and the owners should not lose sight of keeping it up to date.
He said there had to be a conscious effort to ensure that standards do not drop.
“Maintaining standards should be a priority and not an option. You have to spend money to make money hence maintenance is not negotiable,” Mr Magodielo said.
He said every country had its challenges and negatives but what Zimbabwe needed were more ambassadors to talk of the good that the country offers as there were a lot of positive aspects about the country especially in the tourism industry.
Crystal Events and Incentives owner Ms Tes Proos said the last time she was in the country was 10 years ago and what she saw during her tour which was organised by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority last week was a pleasant surprise.
“The activities, quality of service and facilities are excellent. During the meetings I had with some hotels and service providers, I got to learn a lot about this country that I wasn’t aware of and it changed my perceptions, I was generally impressed,” said Ms Proos.
She said although Zimbabwe was definitely marketable and she would be selling it as a product to her clients, there were some areas where training was required to enhance service and meet international standards.
Ms Proos, who is also part of Site, a South African organisation that deals with tourism businesses, said the organisation was recently rebranded from Site SA to Site Southern Africa to welcome members in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events (MICE) business from the region.
That’s Africa Travel and Incentives Tour Designer Ms Lauren Harris said the hospitality of the people of Zimbabwe was refreshing and complemented the hotels as well as great activities that the country has to offer.
“The people here are very welcoming and they show that they want you to be here and this is the most important thing as tourism is a people industry and guests should always be the focus,” she said.
Ms Harris said what was needed now was for service providers especially those in the hospitality sector, to do regular maintenance of their facilities.
“There is work that needs to be done like paint works that is now chipping off and carpets that are now stuffy. It is those little things that people overlook that tend to make all the difference hence it is important to always maintain a place,” she said.
Victoria Falls as a destination stood out for all the buyers and they said it remains Zimbabwe’s greatest strength and it is a major show off.
ZTA chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke said the biggest challenge the authority was facing in marketing the destination was the issue of funds as they had to scale down their celebrity host programme which was instrumental during the height of the country’s crisis period in managing perceptions.
He said the authority was in the process of transforming the programme to an image transformation so as to show the image of the country in the eyes of the market.
“We had discussions with the Finance Minister and we expressed our concerns. In order to market the destination we need finances and we can’t do that with $585 000 the whole year. We are competing with other countries in the region like Zambia, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia for arrivals and bed nights and to deliver we need money,” said Mr Kaseke.
At least 20 buyers from the United States of America, Poland and South Africa attended the A’Sambeni expo as compared to 12 last year.
The buyers, who came a week before the event, were taken on a familiarisation tour to places that include Hwange, Victoria Falls, areas around Bulawayo like Matopos, and Harare.
ZTA head of public relations Mr Sugar Chagonda said most of the buyers were coming into the country for the first time and had shown interests to market the country as MICE destination although they urged the country to invest in the appropriate infrastructure like convention centres.
“Some of their concerns included facilities, direct flights to the destination especially from source markets as well as increasing rooms,” said Mr Chagonda.
During a tour of stands at the ZITF, the First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe, at the ZTA stand said infrastructural development was of paramount importance and that it was one area where she was being vocal about.
