Zimbabwe is now embarking on the road to recovery after experiencing a decade of an economic meltdown due to reasons that range from draught to economic sanctions.
The lifeblood of the Zimbabwean economy comprises mining, agriculture and tourism. If the country is to get back on its feet it is going to be from the above-mentioned sectors.
Zimbabwe, just like any other country needs foreign involvement in its economy one way or the other. There is no nation that survives in isolation thereby bringing the aspect of tourism as a major foreign currency earner.
The Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality with the aid of the Ministry of Information and Publicity as well as Foreign Affairs can give tourism the leverage to rekindle the economy at some level.
The short-term future of African economies is currently in tourism. Zimbabwe‘s new Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Cde Walter Muzembi has a decisive role to play in the economic turnaround.
The West seems to be slowly toning down hate language on Zimbabwe. This is a good sign for tourism in that the rest of the world will once again begin to view Zimbabwe as a safe tourist destination.
The Ministry of Information and Publicity should formulate a strategy whereby the outside world gets to have a keen interest in knowing Zimbabwe. While Foreign affairs should extend the welcoming hand through a good international relations strategy.
Tourism is arguably the highest foreign currency earner for African countries. According to Forbes magazine European travellers used up to US$6 billion on holidays in the Southern African region at the turn of the century. With a share in this kind of money Zimbabwe can manage to fund numerous developmental projects.
For example interactive tourism whereby communities benefit from direct tourism revenue through selling wares and other niceties can help the country in a big way. Visits to villages around the Eastern Highlands, Victoria Falls and other tourist attractions can benefit those communities when the income generated is used to improve schools, road networks and provision of clean water. History has proven that peaceful and politically stable regions get a lot of good attention from tourists.
The political fuss in Zimbabwe for the past eight years has undoubtedly affected tourism ever since the Western media became hostile to the government of the day. In 1999 the country recorded an estimated 1,4 million tourists. That can still be achieved and even surpassed a decade later. In the past eight years many people in the tourism industry lost their jobs and tour operators closed because they simply could not survive in a shrinking economy.
A boom in Zimbabwean tourism can help in the improvement of infrastructure such as roads most of which have been built on the back of foreign investment and aid.
The roads are currently in a very bad state. At the turn of the century British Airways and other European airlines suspended their flights into Zimbabwe. This was a politically motivated move that sought to deny Zimbabwe the very much needed foreign currency that came through tourists, the airlines servicing the Zimbabwean route, service delivery as well as the import and export trade. The West knew that most of the country’s forex came from the tourism sector.
However for the airlines it did not make business sense to suspend the Zimbabwean flights. It was a political issue meant to discourage civilians from travelling to this part of the world at the same time fostering a negative hegemony through the media.
If the airlines would have their way some would want to ply the Zimbabwean route once again.
Through a good move in re-branding the country Zimbabwe will very soon be in a position to decide who should and who should not be re licensed to fly the Zimbabwean route. That is being in control of your own economic decisions — dealing with the person you feel is worth your attention.
The coming back of some major airlines will translate into better service delivery by Air Zimbabwe due to the stiff competition at the same time rekindling the civil aviation sector. Tourism should be taken as a very serious player in the road to recovery. It generates increased wealth and employment for natives. At the same time stimulating the protection of environmental and cultural resources.
With a proper technique in the road to recovery the Minster of Tourism and Hospitality will go down in history as a major contributor to jump starting the Zimbabwean economy.
All it takes is dedication, strategy and co-operation from immediate ministries such as Information and publicity and Foreign Affairs.

source: www.chronicle.co.zw, Article written By: Lenin Ndebele