Cooperation between Japan and Zimbabwe in the promotion and development of the tourism industry is set to grow in the coming years, with the Government of Japan undertaking to work with tourism authorities in Zimbabwe to further strengthen the excellent relations which already exist in the tourism sector.
By Sugar Chagonda
This commitment emerged from wide-ranging discussions between Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Tourism and the Hospitality Industry, Ms Anastancia Ndhlovu, and Mr Yasuto Kawarabayashi, Vice Commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency at the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, on Friday 23 September.
The Honourable Deputy Minister is in Japan to head up Zimbabwe’s participation in JATA 2016, Japan’s annual international Tourism Fair which, this year, attracted the participation of more than 140 nations, including a number of African countries and all 15 SADC Member States.
The Honourable Deputy Minister participated in the official ribbon-cutting ceremony which marked the launch of JATA 2016 at Tokyo’s Big Sight Convention Centre in Odaiba, not far from down-town Tokyo, along with the Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Mr. Keiichi Ishii, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Government of Japan, Mr Yoshihide Suga, the Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organisation, Dr Taleb Rifai, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand and a host of other dignitaries from the world of Asian and global tourism.
Honourable Ndhlovu’s brief also included engaging the Japanese Government on the candidature of Dr Walter Mzembi, the Minister of Tourism and the Hospitality Industry, for the post of Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
Elections for the new Secretary General will take place during the UNWTO Executive Council meeting to be held in Madrid, Spain, in May 2017.
Japan is a member of the UNWTO Executive Council.
Thanking the Deputy Minister for availing detailed information concerning Dr Mzembi’s candidature for the top UNWTO position, Vice Commissioner Kawarabayashi acknowledged Hon Mzembi’s impressive credentials for the job and promised to maintain close communication with the Government of Zimbabwe as the electoral process evolves.
For JATA 2016, all 15 SADC Member States came together to participate under the banner of RETOSA, the regional tourism promotion agency, and, collectively, constitute the biggest African presence at the Fair.
This coordinated Southern African participation has been sponsored by JICA, Japan’s International Cooperation Agency which, under TICAD (the Tokyo International Conference on African Development), identified tourism as a key sub-pillar for support as part of Japan’s overall thrust to promote and buttress Africa’s own development blueprint – Agenda 2063.
At the award ceremony during the official opening of the Fair, the RETOSA stand was accorded a Certificate of Commendation and the Japan Tourism Award by a panel of eminent Japanese tourism industry representatives ,”(…) for outstanding achievements through the initiatives of 15 Southern African nations designed to draw more Japanese tourists”.
Zimbabwe currently receives approximately 30 000 Japanese tourists each year, almost exclusively destined for the Victoria Falls, as part of a set of package tours marketed in Japan, offering Japanese tourists a combination of destinations within the SADC Region. The most popular of the package tours – which, typically, range between 8 to 14 days – include visits to South Africa (Cape Town, Kruger National Park), Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls) and Botswana (Chobe National Park).
There is considerable potential for enhancing tourist arrivals from Japan, and part of Deputy Minister Ndhlovu’s engagement with the tourism authorities in Tokyo is specifically to discuss how the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), with the support of JICA, can assist the Zimbabwean tourism industry to adjust and improve itself to more effectively cater for the requirements of the discerning, high-spending Japanese travelling public.
In discussions with Vice Commissioner Kawarabayashi on possible areas of further bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector, Hon Ndhlovu cited “the sharing of experiences, the training of tour guides, the training of trainers in the tourism and hospitality sector and the joint promotion of both tourism destinations and investment opportunities in the field of tourism in Zimbabwe”.
“The Japanese tourism authorities, working in collaboration with JICA, are also interested in expanding their support for our community based tourism enterprises programme, “ said Honourable Ndhlovu.
“They fully appreciate the importance of the programme and the fact that communities, including rural communities need to derive direct benefit from tourist activities and attractions which are located within their midst”.
“JICA is already working with us in support of this programme and we are counting on them to continue and indeed expand that level of support – including assisting us to develop a practical Manual for community based tourism enterprises – which could then be availed throughout the SADC Region”, said the Deputy Minister.
Vice Commissioner Kawarabayashi noted Japan’s target of attracting 40 million tourist arrivals in the country by the year 2020 – the year that Tokyo will host the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games : and of the need, therefore, for Japanese tourism authorities to put in place strategies to spread the flow of inbound tourists well beyond the main cities and current traditional tourist destinations in Japan. This will involve developing the tourism potential and appeal of Japan’s rural areas – along very similar lines to the community based tourism enterprises concept explained by the Deputy Minister.
“This is a concept we understand very well”, said the Vice Commissioner.
The Vice Commissioner said his Ministry enjoyed excellent working relations with JICA and would now liaise with the Agency with a view to the development of more community-based tourism-related projects in Zimbabwe.
With regard to possible joint investment opportunities in Zimbabwe’s tourism sector, the Vice Commissioner informed the Deputy Minister that this would be a matter for Japan’s private sector to consider, but said that he would be pleased to convey the fact that Zimbabwe is open to such investment from Japan by way of his Ministry’s well-established channels of communication with Japan’s tourism-related private sector players.
“We have many channels through which to communicate your expectations to our private sector and we will certainly do so”, assured the Vice Commissioner.
From Tokyo, the Honourable Deputy Minister flies to Seoul, capital of the Republic of Korea – another key member of the UNWTO’s Executive Council – for discussions with relevant tourism authorities concerning the future development of tourism exchanges between Korea and Zimbabwe and, of course, to seek the support of the Korean Government for the candidature of Dr Mzembi for the top UNWTO job.
