The Sunday News
Charity Chikara, Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority has welcomed the move by the United Kingdom to remove Zimbabwe from the Covid-19 red list, a development that is set to boost the tourism sector.
Zimbabwe is among a host of other countries from the Sadc region that will be removed from the Covid-19 Red List tomorrow.
The UK will remove Zimbabwe, South Africa and 45 other countries from red list. Only seven countries will remain on the UK’s travel red list, according to the British government. Fully vaccinated travellers from these countries will soon be able to avoid quarantine and will only be required to take a day two Covid-19 test after arrival.
The development has further proved that the Covid-19 containment measures put by the Government and the vaccination drive are bearing fruit as new cases and deaths related to Covid-19 have drastically dropped in the country in recent weeks.
ZTA spokesperson Mr Godfrey Koti said all along the classification had put the destination in a disadvantaged position since the United Kingdom is one of Zimbabwe’s major source tourism markets.
“The announcement that destination Zimbabwe will be removed from the red list is incredibly exciting and the sector is fully prepared to help travellers get back to this beautiful tourism destination. To us as the tourism sector, the announcement brings hope for recovery of the sector. We are looking forward to an increased traffic flow into the destination. We are expecting to see the resumption of flights into destination Zimbabwe,” he said.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry and the ZTA have also continued to embark on the domestic tourism drive named “ZimBho iZimYami Vakatsha”, to encourage locals to visit tourism destinations across the country.
The Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu is on record as saying to support the campaign Government exempted value added tax (VAT) on all tourism services for domestic tourists in a bid to reduce the prices being charged for tourism products.
In addition, ZTA has started rolling out an aggressive service excellence training programme throughout the country.
Mr Koti said the programme was anchored on equipping all tourism front line staffers who are responsible for client services and interactions.
“An exceptional service excellence culture will not come by accident, it will come by design and time investment in learning from industry experts. This is why we have decided to roll out an extensive Hospitality Service Excellence training programme,” he said.
Focus and emphasis was on various government departments and agencies.
“These organisations include the Zimbabwe Republic Police, National Handling Services, Zimparks, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Airports Company of Zimbabwe, Hotels and critical tourism entities and stakeholders. The training is highlighting on creating awareness on the need for good ambassadorial etiquette for destination Zimbabwe,” said Mr Koti.
