Source: Climate change: Tourism sector steps in – herald
Zvamaida Murwira
Senior Reporter
Tourism will drive Zimbabwe’s economic growth in the face of climate change and unpredictability of commodity prices on the international market, President Mnangagwa has said.
His message is contained in a Tourism and Hospitality Industry Policy document that he launched at State House in Harare on Monday.
“In the face of climate change and volatility in world commodity prices, the Tourism and Hospitality Industry has become one of the worldwide sectors of choice that countries use to grow their economies based on it’s sustainability.
“Thus, in the Second Republic, Zimbabwe is focused on growing the tourism and hospitality industry to make it one of the top contributors to the Gross Domestic Product, alongside mining, agriculture and manufacturing,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said his administration was determined to achieve Vision 2030, which seeks to improve the quality of life for Zimbabweans.
“Consistent with the collective aspirations and determination of the people of Zimbabwe to establish and promote a just, free and democratic society in which people enjoy prosperous, happy and fulfilling lives, the Second Republic launched Vision 2030,” said President Mnangagwa.
“This vision predicts that Zimbabwe shall achieve an upper-middle income economy status by 2030. To this end, Vision 2030 shall guide the implementation of national development policies and strategies to ensure the attainment of this upper-middle income status.”
He said it was critical to have appropriate policies to achieve national goals.
“The development of appropriate policies in key sectors of the economy, such as the tourism and hospitality industry, is critical for Zimbabwe’s sustainable development.
“Thus, in order to transform the tourism and hospitality industry, the Second Republic made a decision to develop this comprehensive Tourism and Hospitality Industry Policy. The goal of this policy is to promote and develop the industry as a key driver for the achievement of the upper middle income economy status,” President Mnangagwa said.
He said the new policy sought to have Zimbabweans benefit from local tourism resources.
“The policy is designed to facilitate the industrialisation and modernisation of Zimbabwe, following the mantra ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/llizwe lakhiwa ngabanikhazi balo,’ and ‘leaving no place and no one behind’. Together, harnessing the collective energies of all Zimbabweans from all walks of life and from across the length and breadth of our country, we shall achieve Vision 2030 and beyond,” the President said.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbra Rwodzi said the policy was in tandem with the aspirations of the Second Republic, which emphasises accelerated and balanced economic growth.
“In fact, Section 13 of the Constitution on National Development is instructive that tourism, inter alia, promotes socio-economic benefits for all Zimbabweans; in particular, the most vulnerable sectors of society. The Constitution recognises national development as its main objective and seeks to bring about a balanced development of the different areas of Zimbabwe, in particular a proper balance in the development of rural and urban areas and that local communities must benefit from the resources in their areas,” wrote Minister Rwodzi in the policy document.
She noted the need to streamline and modernise the tourism and hospitality industry for the promotion of socio-economic benefits for all Zimbabweans, in particular, the marginalised and most vulnerable sectors of society.
“The Government of Zimbabwe thus developed this tourism and hospitality industry policy to cause the rapid and equitable development of Zimbabwe. This policy was developed to guide the present and future promotion and development of a robust tourism and hospitality industry ecosystem. Thus, this policy pivots on inclusivity and robustness that demonstrate the importance of all sectors of the economy in the promotion and development of the tourism and hospitality industry,” reads the policy document.
It envisaged a proper financing structure which provides for the establishment of a resilient and sustainable model and system of financing the development of the sector.
Further, the policy notes that a sustainable financial infrastructure is achieved through configuring the Zimbabwe Tourism Fund (ZTF) so that it is used for tourism and hospitality industry infrastructure development, as well as quality and standards development and enhancement.
There will also be strengthening of the registration and grading of Tourist Facilities to improve financial flows in the industry, leading to improved contributions to the national GDP.
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