Zimbabwe received the Best Destination for adventure Award from the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) at the just ended International Tourism Bourse (ITB) which took place in Berlin, Germany.
The Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) is a professional organization of travel writers which was founded in 1998, in Colombo, Sri Lanka with India as its base. PATWA is an organisation responsible for tourism development in the Asia Pacific region. PATWA also adheres to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations (UN), and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in all its business processes.
The Award was presented to the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry; Honorable Dr. Engineer Walter Mzembi at an award ceremony officiated by the UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Talib Rifai on the sidelines of ITB 2016. In his acceptance speech, Minister Dr. Eng. Walter Mzembi was upbeat that the award will help in consolidating Zimbabwe Tourism Authority’s destination promotion efforts and strategies already under implementation to attract more tourists from the Pacific and Asian markets.
Bestowing of this achiever tourism destination status by PATWA affirms the evident interest in the country’s tourism offering as witnessed during the ITB tourism fair. The award distinguishes the country’s tourism vibrancy despite the challenges the industry continues to face in adequately executing destination promotion initiatives in various markets around the world. The award comes at time the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry is championing an all-encompassing national brand so as to fully realize the country’s tourism, investment and trade potential.
