BY TANYARADZWA NHARI Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA)’s new chief executive officer (CEO) has placed execution of the country’s dream to achieve US$5 billion annual revenue in the sector among her most immediate targets.
In an exclusive interview with NewsDay Business, Winnie Muchanyuka vowed to drive Zimbabwe’s tourism industry to the target, which was set by former tourism minister Walter Mzembi before he fled the country after the coup.
Muchanyuka, a former South African Airways executive before moving to lead ZTA in June this year, replaced Karikoga Kaseke, who retired on health grounds about a year ago.
But she stepped into the big seat as Zimbabwe, along with the rest of the world, was drifting out of a brutal crisis ignited by COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns between 2020 and early this year.
Annual tourism revenues have plummeted from just under US$2 billion before the pandemic to US$397 million last year — a huge drawback for a country that has placed tourism among industries to drive economic rebound.
This is one of many hurdles confronting Muchanyuka, a former president of the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe.
But she said she was well briefed about the huge responsibility that she accepted when signed her contract.
She said she was ready to leave an indelible mark.
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“As I settle in the role, I am fully aware that the key mandate of the ZTA is to promote and manage the destination,” Muchanyuka told NewsDay Business yesterday.
“We also have a blueprint that is guiding us in our quest to achieve a US$5 billion tourism economy by 2025. These naturally become my key areas of focus and I am positive that we will attain them,” she added.
“To further breakdown this, we are faced with the need to aggressively promote domestic tourism, increase regional receipts as well as prioritise MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism,” she added.
“It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc in the sector and saw us losing earnings of over US$1,2 billion. It is our plan to regain our lost position and surpass it. The National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy is our blueprint for building back better. In this plan, we have anchored everything on three pillars in order to achieve our set objectives and goals. These are domestic tourism, regional tourism and international tourism. We are paying particular attention to domestic tourism development, promotion and culture change.
“This will help us to increase the earning capacity of the sector which in turn will aid the international receipts. We will use digital marketing as a tool to promote the destination to both local and international tourists,” Muchanyuka said.
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