By Tendai Matunhu
Youths have been encouraged to look for opportunities in the tourism sector particularly in community tourism with communities becoming active participants in modelling local tourism.
Speaking to delegates at the Africa Youth in Tourism today, First Lady Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa said, “We need to encourage community based tourism where communities become active participants in modelling local tourism from ward to national level. This is because our social cultural heritage has the capacity to invite tourist attention, if well packaged and marketed.
“Consequently the youth are supposed to find an entrepreneurial niche in exploiting the magnetic tourist impetus drawn from our cultural heritage,” she said.
The First Lady went on to encourage medical tourism as the world is moving towards organic remedies in the cure of chronic diseases.
“Cognisant of health as a fundamental human right, we should also tap into the role of medical tourism as the world is drifting towards organic remedies for the cure of many chronic diseases. We are endowed with organic medicinal properties which can be a driver for medical tourism, not with-standing the therapeutic benefits provided by our flora and fauna,” she said.
She went on to say that in line with the policy direction of the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy- vision 2025, Government strives to recover lost market share in the traditional markets of Europe, America, Australia and Asia. She said the aim was to also penetrate new markets in Eastern Europe, China and India in Asia as well as growing the domestic market so as to enhance the contribution of tourism to the national economy.
She said this resonated with the Second-Republic’s Zimbabwe is open for business mantra. She said Youths must exploit the value chain of tourism at the same navigating the path to breaking the limitations of the tourism sector.
The first lady went on to say that the call is for everyone, the youth in particular, exploiting the given context of our liberties to adequately participate in all activities which seek to generate inclusive empowerment across generations. In the context of high unemployment rate in Africa, she said it was imperative for policy makers to adopt a holistic approach to the growth of various fraternal economic front, especially tourism.
She went on to hail the 39th SADC resolution against sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West. She said the continued imposition of sanctions curtailed the potential for tourism’s growth and Foreign Direct Investment. She said the call for diplomatic pressure against sanctions must be complimented by our continued zeal to rejuvenate our economy and tourism in particular.
