Zimbabwe's tourism hurt again

Harare - Zimbabwe's tourism sector players warned this week that the industry could lumber into a fresh crisis ahead of elections next year after the United States issued a travel warning against the country.

The travel warning on Zimbabwe was issued by the Americans due to concerns of increased security threats following the beating of opposition party politicians and activists as well as journalists and lawyers over the past two months.

Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold its presidential elections in March and these could run concurrently with parliamentary and senatorial elections due in 2010 but expected to be brought forward under a proposed harmonisation programme.

The polls could trigger an outbreak of violence, a situation likely to lead to the renewal of travel warnings by western countries on Zimbabwe.

'Look East' policy unsuccessful

Chipo Mtasa, president of the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT), told The Financial Gazette yesterday: “It is very disappointing and it worries us that there are renewed (travel warnings) from our traditional markets.”

President Robert Mugabe's government has branded the US and its allies imperialists, accusing the western countries of harbouring a scheme to unseat his government.

To deal with the unfriendly west, Mugabe had embarked on a Look East policy under which the country has splurged billions to market the country to Asian countries, but this initiative has been unsuccessful.

In any case, tourism sector players said Asian visitors have not been big spenders compared with their European and American counterparts.

“Although we are looking at other markets we still consider traditional markets to be important to us,” Mtasa said. – Staff Reporter

Article by courtesy of The Financial Gazette