The Sanganai-Hlanganani World Tourism Expo 2018, which ran in Bulawayo last month, has been hailed as a success in many ways than one. For me, the tour of tourism destinations in various parts of the country was an eye-opener.
public relations with Lenox Mhlanga
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, led by chief executive Karikoga Kaseke, continues to tick all the right boxes in their mission to market Zimbabwe as an attractive destination for local, regional and international visitors.
As part of the expo, a number of tours by operators and agents were organised for them to sample and assess the tourist attractions that Zimbabwe has to offer, and I was part of a group from Zambia, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana and Kenya. They were literally blown away by what they saw though, of course, taking note of areas that needed attention.
The trip began in Bulawayo, with most of them attending the tourism expo, while residing in a choice of lodges that the city is known to offer. Our hospitality is legendary. however, years of economic decline, have taken their toll on the quality of service and the state of the facilities.
One does understand the pressure that a number of tourist facility operators have been under. One should also appreciate what they achieved under a challenging environment. They have taken the opportunity presented by the Sanganai-Hlanganani World Tourism Expo to lobby and present their issues to government, including vice-president Constantino Chiwenga and Tourism and Environment minister Prisca Mupfumira.
These included issues such as high taxes, access to capital, and rebates that ensure that the tourism industry grows and does not choke to death. In return, the minister implored the industry to move with the times by adopting digital marketing tools to attract visitors.
While addressing a ministerial roundtable that ran parallel to the expo and attended by tourism ministers from South Africa, Zambia and Malawi, Mupfumira said that in today’s world, tourists and, in particular, the young generation had become very particular about the kind of tourism product they want to experience.
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“They don’t feel secure about what tourism product or package they are purchasing. Digital marketing is, therefore, becoming a necessity these days as rapid development in internet technology, the World Wide Web and social media platforms are changing marketing principles in a dramatic way,” she said.
She went on to say that digital technology was breaking geographical and political boundaries, as seen in the interest generated among the tour group of East and Southern African tour operators and agents that I accompanied from Bulawayo right up to Harare via the Eastern Highlands.
Zimbabwe is like an onion that one has to peel in order to reach the juicy inner parts (for lack of a better way of putting it). And peel we did, from the majestic Great Zimbabwe, that has never lost its spiritual allure, to hotels and quaint lodges around Lake Mutirikwi and the Eastern Highlands.
The subject of sustainable tourism came up in our fireside chats as temperatures suddenly plummeted in Masvingo. Tourism has historically been an exclusive activity dominated by the white community. The majority indigenous people were resigned to making the annual hegira. But, after independence, a number of indigenous operators made a foray into that sector. Several decades down the line, their numbers have increased exponentially.
Our colleagues from the region who have been at it for years had some insightful observations. One of them, Edwin Muzahura from Uganda, centred on the government empowering indigenous players for them to reach the standards demanded by the growing market.
Sustainable tourism is one that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.
The issue is: how do the local communities benefit from the tourism products in their midst? How can they be empowered both financially and technically to become formidable players? Unfortunately, the government has had more important issues to contend with.
However, as the country deliberately re-engages with the rest of the world while fixing its economy, tourism, on a large scale, offers low-hanging fruit that can catapult both these communities and indigenous players for the benefit of the economy.
Granted that there are players who would fiercely defend their turf because of the rich pickings they have been enjoying all these years, this situation is not sustainable because of the vast number of untapped tourist products this country has to offer.
Some communities do not even see the huge potential of marketing their areas to the outside world. Perhaps, one cheap way of doing this would be to first target the local market that would in turn attract those from outside our borders.
Which brought us to the other elephant in the room — that of product knowledge and communicating it to the outside world. Any media platform is redundant if there is little or no content generated to feed into it for distribution. This is one of the laws of the new digital era.
A casual browse of the websites of many of our lodges, operators and hotels yields little in terms of the history, culture and significance of a destination. One might provide a hospitality service, but one of the things that draws people to a place is its unique charm and the stories it generates.
The point of bringing tour operators and agents to our tourist destinations was for them to experience them first-hand, and build lasting memories that they will carry back to their countries. These experiences are the ones that they will use to design their packages in a way that will draw tourists to these destinations.
Lenox Mhlanga is lead consultant at Magna Carta Reputation Management. He can be contacted at [email protected]
