Zimbabwe seeks SA’s destination endorsement
Posted under Airline News on March 16, 2010 by webmaster | 344 views
ZIMBABWE is seeking destination endorsement by South Africa as the second home of the 2010 Fifa World Cup to promote tourism and investment here. Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi has extended an invitation to South Africa’s Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk to elicit expression of support for the country as a premier tourism and investment destination. He is understood to have already accepted the invitation and has confirmed that he would visit Zimbabwe next month.
South Africa will host the 2010 edition of the Fifa World Cup from June 11 to July 11, 2010 and its tourism minister’s visit could help put Zimbabwe in global spotlight. An entourage of national and local authority officials, the business community and the media is expected to accompany the South African minister. The visit is expected to give Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls, in particular, considerable mileage as tourism destinations and conducive places to do business.
Minister Mzembi said he had extended the invitation to his South African counterpart during a recent visit to South Africa for a summit held in that country. "We are expecting Minister van Schalkwyk to visit between the 15th and the 16th of April and he is coming straight to the Victoria Falls. "It was a request that I made within the context of my intervention during that summit. We had not had that expression of support from South Africa in terms of destination endorsement, Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls basically, and we think we can derive a lot more mileage from his visit," he said.
Minister Mzembi said this during his meeting with South Africa’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Professor Mlungisi Makalima, who pledged his country’s support to assist Zimbabwe with financial resources to prepare for the World Cup. Minister Mzembi said during Minister van Schalkwyk’s visit Zimbabwe would express its solidarity with South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup and also give them a platform to discuss ways to develop and effect the Africa Legacy Project.
He said there had been a lot of anxiety in the country over the World Cup’s potential benefits for Zimbabwe amid reports that a motion would soon be moved in Parliament to express solidarity with South Africa for hosting of the event. In the context of the Africa Legacy Project, Zimbabwe has approached South Africa for financial aid to set up infrastructure to connect its people to the global football showpiece.
Prof Makalima said his country would do everything in its capacity to mobilise financial resources required to ensure the dream to make the World Cup an African event, under the Africa Legacy Project, comes true for Zimbabwe.
Minister Mzembi said infrastructure development during major events such as the 2010 World Cup had become a habitual global practice that resulted in massive investments that created numerous jobs across the world. Zimbabwe is targeting US$200 million from the World Cup in South Africa and expects about 130 000 of the 450 000 visitors who would descend on South Africa to also extend their visits to Zimbabwe.
Normally, 30 percent of tourism visitors to South Africa end up in Zimbabwe. This country is also seeking assistance from South Africa to enhance efficiency and reduce congestion at the Beitbridge Border Post, which could restrict the expeditious movement of travellers, especially during the World Cup.
In addition, Zimbabwe has asked South Africa to ensure its national airline makes more flights to Zimbabwe to enhance accessibility during the soccer event. Furthermore, Zimbabwe is seeking South Africa’s help to have some of the African teams participating in the tournament camp in Zimbabwe ahead of the event. Minister Mzembi said it would be a moral travesty of justice if African teams camped in other continents whereas the football extravaganza has been declared an African event.
