Midlands Bureau Chief
THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) in a move to groom natural tourism ambassadors, adventurers and explorers hosted RayVines and his team on an exciting two-day Midlands Tour last week.
“Ray Vines”, real name Melusi Chiripowako (20) is a talented content creator, influencer, comedian from the Mukukuzvi fame, who is studying for his BSc Honours Degree in Computer Science at the Midlands State University (MSU).
The event was done in partnership with the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe. The project is premised on the need to promote recreational outings with friends and family, eating out with your squad and learning more about the history housed in the Midlands Province.
RayVines and his team experienced tourism attractions such as the only Military Museum in the country which is in Gweru and also visited the Village Escape under the Village Lodges Group.They also visited Naletale Ruins, located about 67 kilometres from Gweru along the Bulawayo Road, the Antelope Park and the mining museum in Kwekwe, which houses the paper house, the only one of its kind which was built in 1894. He said he is optimistic that ZimBho Campaign, launched this year will promote domestic tourism adding that the country has so many tourism facilities for everyone.
“As a creator, before lockdown I was used to exploring different places around Zimbabwe and getting used to being mobile. I’m grateful for the ZimBho Campaign. I really had an awesome experience from riding the horse at the Village Escape, the volleyball match, Lunch at Les Vigo and a whole lot of refreshing moments. I think everyone deserves such experiences,” he said.
Mukukuzvi manager Mr Mufaro Ruzvidzo applauded the ZTA for reaching out to the youths, which is a critical segment across all sectors.
“I personally think this was important for Ray and the whole team as we have been working and we needed to take a break and refresh. I greatly appreciate the ZimBho initiative as it is also encouraging the youth to be adventurous and explorative,” said Mr Mufaro.
The project falls under the Domestic Tourism Campaign “ZimBho” which has been designed with a sole focus on the domestic market whose contribution to the economic growth and development is yet to be fully realised. It targets to create that sense of ownership and pride in being a citizen of a tourism richly endowed country among other inspirations.
The campaign Brand, ZimBho, #Vakatsha, #iZimYami is premised on the word “Bho”, which means good, well or fine.
In the tourism context, the saying implies that Zimbabwe is beautiful and richly endowed. The domestic tourism “ZimBho’ campaign, whose heartbeat is collaboration with the private sector and all key stakeholders, was launched by Government on 29 October in Kariba following the launch of the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy in August 2020 by the President Mnangagwa, where the sector was given a target to achieve a $5 billion tourism economy by 2025.
ZimBho aims to create awareness among locals of all attractions within Zimbabwe, educate and inform Zimbabweans on the rich and diversely varied tourism products available and nurture local travel as a lifestyle.
The ZTA area manager, Ms Lizzie Adams encouraged all the local operators to come onboard and support this initiative by coming up with exciting packages for the domestic market. She said engagements at national level on incentives for all registered tourism operators have already begun to aide recovery post-Covid-19.
“Plans currently in progress are establishment of partnerships with the local print and electronic media as well as the Official launch of the ZimBho Campaign in the Midlands Province and all the other Tourism Regions,” he said.
