via Govt to make recreation affordable 02 January 2015
GOVERNMENT plans to build family theme parks countrywide to afford low income earners an opportunity to go for holiday because they cannot afford the current resort areas.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi told journalists in Victoria Falls this week that they were planning to establish 10 such recreation centres countrywide-the target being civil servants whose salaries are meager.
The sentiments by the Minister came amid concerns by locals that the just ended Jameson Victoria Falls Carnival was not affordable to local citizens where tickets cost $55 per day’s entrance.
“The success of any tourism product lies in affordability. Locals do not afford high products and government is planning to develop theme products not only in Victoria Falls but there will be 10 countrywide,” said Mzembi.
He said: “For citizens to enjoy, recreation is an issue that must be captured to afford low income earners and civil servants an opportunity to go for holidays. Although we must raise revenue, we must also incentivize locals to visit tourist resort areas especially during off peak periods.”
Minister Mzembi also encouraged locals to develop a holidaying culture to complement the efforts amid reports that uptake of holiday packages by locals was only 30 percent.
Organisers of the carnival also hinted on coming up with local rates specifically for local attendees in next year’s edition. Mostly, locals have little or no money to save for holidays hence the need for incentivised packages to boost domestic tourism.
COMMENTS
Why does government waste time and resources on the obvious?
The general idea should be to enable citizens to earn decent wages that will promote active participation in entertainment activities.
What if citizens do not want to go to theme parks but participate in cultural activities? Will government build giant parks for this purpose so the populace must go there?
For which govenrment are you talking about ? There is no govenrment.
Oh for heavens sake. It’ll be years before any of us can take time off from the jobs we have to have a holiday. Any free time is spent trying to make ends meet. Holidays are a luxury only afforded by bigwigs in ZanuPF.
Oh for Pete’s sake – make food affordable, you idiot’s.
Distract them with meaningless entertainment so that they do not think too much about what is happening around them.
Hon Mzembi for now put your energy on international tourists. Ur target group, civil servants, can not save anything from their wages let alone getting enough for their families to eat and u expect them to put holidaying on their lists of priorities, my foot. The gvt must work on the economy so that more ppl can get jobs, open industries and get decent salaries. Plse, its not abt increasing salaries but balancing all economic activities in the country…
What a load of rubbish. Mzembi is a minister in a government that cannot afford drugs for its hospitals, books for its schools or basic maintenance of the infrastructure He is an idiot singing for his supper.
There is and always was National Parks accomodation that was decent and good. See the wildlife and nature!!! Seems the government ministers, as usual, need to talk and there is no research or thought process occuring at the same time.
Really though? With soaring unemployment rates…take a vacation or recreation for what? From what? When you actually don’t even work… With what money are you going to go to a theme park? Some of these things though…haaaa although I acknowledge his efforts they ought to be directed towards capturing the international or foreign tourist kwete isusu…bigger problems like no access to credit, mortgage interest rates through the roof…when will one who is lucky enough to even have a job be able to save for a holiday? Seriously…