Zimbabwe will increase international tourists, exports and foreign direct investments (FDI) and enhance growth of the national economy and in turn create jobs if a deliberate approach to market the image of the country is undertaken, Vice President Kembo Mohadi has said.
In his keynote address at the Zimbabwe China Business Forum today in Harare, Mohadi, said Zimbabwe is endowed with unique resources across all sectors.
“As Zimbabweans, we are of high intellect, resilient, and have a great work ethic only identical to us. These unique attributes point to our resourcefulness and that a sure guarantee of our economic growth potential and a significant return to your investment,” he said.
VP Mohadi hailed the strategic partnership with Touchroad, a Chinese travel and tourism company, saying it would increase the country’s market presence and destination visibility in the Chinese market.
“We have adopted digital marketing as a new dynamic promotional tool and soon we shall establish our online presence on the Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat.
“Destination branding has also been or strategic focus area gave that if we do not brand ourselves we will invariably be at the mercy of the international media.
“We need to share our own narrative working with friendly and strategic partners like Touchroad. Zimbabwe is just a gem, an awakening giant, safe and secure tourism and investment destination,” he said.
VP Mohadi said Zimbabwe was enjoying a growth trajectory.
“I am briefed that tourist arrivals to Zimbabwe reached 2 579 974 in 2018, 6 per cent up from 2 422 930 received in 2017.
“The growth in arrivals was driven by the notable growth in arrivals from all source regions and most major markets with the exception off the Americans,” he said.
VP Mohadi said the key focus areas:
Destination promotion
International market representation
Destination image transformation
Destination branding
Stakeholders’ strategic alliances
Digital marketing
The business forum was a call for investment as well as an opportunity to establish strategic alliances and partnerships for the economic revival.
VP Mohadi noted that the Chinese Business delegates had a keen interest in exploring the possibilities of strategic alliances, partnerships and business opportunities across sectors, given their composition.
Among the delegates were business people and travel agencies.
“This is a true reflection that tourism is a key sector of our economy and if strategically managed, can result in ripple effects across sectors with the resultant enhancement of the overall national income.
“Hence, this Business Forum will go a long way in promoting investments across all sectors of our economy. We aim to live to our vision of an upper middle-income economy by the year 2030,” he said.
