.

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

A TOURISM PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT REPORT

Prepared in partial fulfilment of the

BSC. In TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT DEGREE

Prepared for Mr. S. NYARUWATA

Prepared by MUTSAWASHE O. MVUDUDU

Registration Number R061853X

Zimbabwe is a beautiful landlocked country that has been marred by both political and economic uncertainty over the past decade or so. This led to the formation of the Global Political Agreement that was signed between the three political principals, MDC-T, MDC-M and ZANU PF which was signed on the 15th of September 2008. Various changes have occurred since the formation of this inclusive government and these changes have affected various sectors of the Zimbabwean economy and the tourism industry has not been spared. There is need therefore to come up with a strategic plan that will revive the tourism industry.

Below is a report that seeks to bring out a strategic plan that can help the in reviving the tourism industry. This report will cover the following areas An audit of the countrys tourist attractions An analysis of significant tourism developments since 1980 An outline of the countrys tourism product relative to SWOT Policy recommendations that can be implemented by the government to revive the tourism industry An audit of Zimbabwes tourist attractions Zimbabwe is a beautiful landlocked country that is located in Southern Africa which boasts of a superb natural terrain, magnificent tourist attractions and friendly people. Zimbabwe has quite a number of tourist attractions which play a great role in bringing tourists to Zimbabwe. attractions in Zimbabwe include the following. The

Eastern Highlands The eastern highlands of Zimbabwe are located on the Eastern border of Zimbabwe. It is an area that is dominated by mountains, lakes and waterfalls. It is home to the highest mountain in Zimbabwe, Mt. Nyangani. Mtarazi falls at 762metres in height is also found in this area. To the east of Mutare is Vumba which is a rich in beauty and lushness. The Vumba botanical gardens and botanical reserves are also found in this area. The Leopard Rock hotel is also found in this area. Chimanimani lies to the south of the city of Mutare which is immensely beautiful and is home to the beautiful Bridal falls. The Eastern highlands contribute significantly to the total tourist arrivals in the country. It is a beautiful area though its beauty is now being compromised by deforestation and global warming. If sustainably maintained it will continue its existence as a prime tourism destination

Wildlife and nature Zimbabwe is blessed with a wide variety of animals and plant species which attract people to the country. In its parks and wildlife reserves, Zimbabwe boasts of the big 5, that is, lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant and the rhinoceros. About 20% of Zimbabwes pristine total surface area is set

aside as for parks and wildlife estate. Hwange national park, which is the largest national park in Zimbabwe as well as the 5th largest national park, is also found in Zimbabwe. This park has about 413 b9ird species and 100 animal species. It also is home to about 1000 species of trees and shrubs. Zimbabwes wildlife and nature are amongst the countrys main attractions. Wildlife in Zimbabwe brings about some renowned safari camps and game hunting that is a major revenue earner in the country. However the wildlife in Zimbabwe is being affected by the increase in the level of poaching and culling activities that are done in the country.

Great Zimbabwe This is the place from which Zimbabwe derives its name. it is the largest ancient stone construction south of the Sahara. This place was built as a tribute to the power and authority of the then rulers great Zimbabwe is solely built on stone without mortar. It was declared as a UNESCO world heritage site. The Great Zimbabwe holds some great significance in the history of Zimbabwe. It has a lot of potential in becoming a prime tourist attraction in Zimbabwe. Efforts need to be spruced up in order to bring out its importance and beauty as a prime tourist destination as well as an important historical icon of Zimbabwe. Great Zimbabwe still needs to be well marketed and well preserved in order to bring out and maintain its status.

Lake Kariba This is one of the greatest man-made lakes in the world covering an area of about 5000 square kilometres. It is over 280kilometres long and 42kilometres wide. Kariba dam was completed in December 1958. it is associated with the legendary Nyaminyami. Kariba also boasts of pristine wildlife and nature. This area is a very strategic attraction as it is located at a Zimbabwean border. It is strategically positioned and can even do much better if well marketed. There is need to create other newer attractions to compliment the lake which is loosing its lustre as compared to other resorts such as the Victoria Falls.

Victoria falls. This is often referred to as a must see attraction. This is one of the natural wonders of the world and is amongst t he largest and most spectacular waterfalls in the world. This is the main tourist attraction in Zimbabwe and has done a great deal in putting Zimbabwe on the global tourism map. Much attention has been given on the Victoria falls as a prime Zimbabwean destination. Many efforts have been made on this area to make it a world class destination. There is need therefore

to aggressively market th8is area as a Zimbabwean as other countries tend to market it as theirs. If Zimbabwe fails to do this effectively, many tourists will be lost to other countries such as South Africa and Zambia who can gain access to the falls.

History and Heritage Within the Zimbabwean borders lies evidence of a distinctive culture. The country boasts of various rock paintings and rock art showing the Zimbabwean background going back 30 000 years. Zimbabwe also is home to some magnificent caves such as the Chinhoyi cave and other rare pools such as the Nyanyadzi Hot spring. There are other attractions. Harare This is the Zimbabwean capital city and is home to quite a number of beautiful attractions which includes the National gallery, museum of Human Science, Harare gardens, Mbare musika and other attractions as well. Harare is also home to Mukuvisi woodlands which still have the original Miombo forests which existed before Harare was built. Domboshawa balancing rocks and the Borrowdale race course are also found in Harare. Harare is home to many tourist attractions and is a very crucial city in attracting the much needed tourists in Zimbabwe. Harare has been hard hit by various incidents such as political violence as well as fuel shortages. It however still is a major player in the tourism industry and promotes all tourism types particularly domestic tourism. It is also home to the main international airport in Zimbabwe, the Harare international airport.

Bulawayo This is Zimbabwes second largest city and hosts quite a number of attractions such as the Matopos, Khami ruins, the Museum of Natural history, the Railway Museum among other attractions. The Joshua Nqabuko Nkomo Airport is also found in this city. It therefore is a very accessible place.

Above are the main tourists attractions that exist in Zimbbabwe. Most of these areas are very beautiful areas but much still needs to be done in order to make sure that these attractions are well preserved in order for them to maintain their beauty. Other amenities need to be added to these areas such that can compete on world class standards. There are other ranges such as Malilangwe range which are at this stage and have attracted international stars such as Shakira.

Zimbabwe is home to a number of tourists attractions and only a few have been mentioned above. Audits of these attractions show that some improvements still need to be done in order to make them much more attractive.

An analysis of significant tourism developments in the country since 1980 Zimbabwe is a country that was under the British colonial rule and fought for its independence which it attained in 1980. Celebrations are made every year on the 18th of April to commemorate Zimbabwes independence. The independence of Zimbabwe brought about many changes in Zimbabwe. These changes hit every aspect of the country and it also meant the beginning of drastic changes in the various sectors of the economy. The tourism industry was not spared as it started to experience significant changes.

Because independence brought an end to the war as well as insecurity, tourists arrivals increased. This was because Zimbabwe was now to be considered as a safe tourist destination. By 1985, 237 756 tourists visited Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was now a tranquil country there was also an increase in government revenue set aside for tourism development. There was an increase in the levels of investments from both the public and the private sectors of the country.1981 saw Zimbabwe hosting the 10th meeting of the World Tourism Organisation in Victoria Falls which proved confidence in the Zimbabwean Tourism sector. 1983 was characterised by the government embarking on the National Economic Revival Programme. This encouraged significant improvements in the tourism sector as it resulted in the refurbishment of the Harare International Airport, ZUPCO and NRZ. This greatly improved accessibility of the Zimbabwean tourism product. There was however, a decrease in the number of tourist arrivals in Zimbabwe as a result of the Matebeleland civil war. This war caused insecurity amongst the tourists and this was made worse when 6 tourists were kidnapped and killed in the Matabeleland region. This was settled by the signing of the Unity accord between PF ZAPU and ZANU PF.

Since independence many airports and aerodromes have been constructed and the skies have been deregulated. This has therefore resulted in the participation of the many private operators. There was also the introduction of direct flights between Victoria Falls and London by Air Zimbabwe

1987 saw the introduction of a National Conservation Strategy. This gave rise to investor confidence as the country now had some sort of guidelines on sustainable development. Zimbabwe now had a chance to promote conservation policies in its industry.

Information from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Research development graphs shown on figures at the back show that there was an increase in the number of tourist arrivals and the countrys tourism sector was quite vibrant despite a number of fluctuations. The period of 1989 to 1991was a very tranquil period and was characterised by economic stability. This saw an increase in

the number of airlines plying the Zimbabwean route. These airlines included Air Malawi, Air Botswana, British Airways, Qantas, among others. From 1991 up to 1999 Zimbabwe enjoyed significant growth in tourism. During this period Zimbabwe is said to have reached its peak on its tourism product life cycle. This is shown the graph at the back which shows a steep rise in the number of tourism arrivals. During this period Europe remained the largest and most important market for Zimbabwe with a 14.6% of all total arrivals of 1998. Total arrivals from the overseas markets consisted of 60% Europeans. During this period most overseas markets showed a strong growth trend over the years save for 1997 where many tourist generating areas experienced a decline. South Africa was at this moment the largest regional source market. At this point the Asian market was not really strong as yet as it was coming out of its economic crisis. The period from 1989 to 19998 saw an increase in the number of accommodation utilisation. This is shown in the table below., YEAR 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 BEDNIGHTS AVAILABLE 2 570 044 2 580 918 2 645 552 2 795434 2 923 575 2 940 476 3 140 459 3 344 573 2 819 892 BEDNIGHTS SOLD 1 144 427 1220 620 1 324 910 1 275 295 1 200 280 1 441 612 1 541 750 1 683 874 1 428 409 OCCUPANCY RATE 44.5 47.3 50.1 45.6 41.1 49.0 49.1 50.3 51 52

SOURCE: Zimbabwe tourism authority.

This significant increase in accommodation utilisation was as a result of the existence of a number of state of the art hotels such as the 5star Meikles hotel and other hotels such as Crowne Plaza, Hotel Mercure, Elephant hills among others. 1995 also saw Zimbabwe hosting the 5th All Africa games. This was a major boost in the Zimbabwean tourism sector. The event saw an influx in tourism arrivals and massive refurbishments in Zimbabwean amenities. The event saw the construction of state of the art complexes such as the Chitungwiza Aquatic complex. In 1994 the Ministry of Environment and Tourism introduced an interim Environmental Impact Assessment policy ensuring ecological, social and economic impacts resulting from land and water use are minimised or eliminated. This therefore resulted in sustainable use of natural resources as well ecotourism development. Under this policy, developmental proposals are scrutinised before approval. Under this policy, the minister is empowered to prescribe any activity, policy, programme

which in his view may cause significant environmental impact or community disruption. This has been instrumental in furthering the cause of sustainable development and eco-tourism ventures in Zimbabwe. The year 2000 was a dramatic year in the Zimbabwean tourism industry. This year saw a massive decline in the vibrancy of the tourism industry in Zimbabwe. This was as a result of the not so popular land reform programme undertaken by the Zimbabwean Government. This programme received a lot of negative publicity among Zimbabwes top tourist generating regions of Europe and America. The actions by the Zimbabwean government led the neglect of Zimbabwe as a country by other countries. Negative publicity also cropped out. This led to Zimbabwe losing its potential tourists as they had been scared away. Zimbabwe was therefore regarded as a no go area. Investors were then pushed away from Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe began experiencing political and economic instability which led to massive violence. This violence made Zimbabwe an unsafe place to be. This made Zimbabwe known all over the world for being an unfavourable tourist destination particularly among the main tourist generating markets such as Europe and America. In 2003 Zimbabwe launched the Look East policy which was aimed at targeting the untapped Asian market. This saw an increase in the number of Asians visiting the country. Zimbabwe also received economic sanctions and travel bans were issued. Some countries started dissuading their residents from visiting Zimbabwe. The period from 2000 to 2008 was characterised by a hyperinflationary and politically unstable environment. This made the prices of Zimbabwean products very expensive and also this led to the purchasing power parity of Zimbabwean products unfavourable.

On the 18th of July 2000 the government launched the tourism recovery plan which intended to restore confidence in Zimbabwe as a tourist destination as well as to increase the number of direct long haul and regional flights to Zimbabwe. The government transformed the tourism sector from being a service industry to becoming an export sector with benefits of tax breaks and exemptions. The ministry of tourism adopted a new policy of ensuring adequate fuel supplies on all popular tourist destinations in an effort to insulate the tourism sector from fuel shortages. Tourism receipts were heavily reduced. This, together with high government revenue multiplier of about 0.6 made Zimbabwe a no go area for tourists. The presidential elections of June 2008 saw an increase in the negative publicity for Zimbabwe. This came as a result of the political violence that ensued the elections. The year 2009 saw the signing of the global political agreement that saw the principle parties of MDC-T, MDC-M and ZANU PF. As a result of this political agreement, various changes started emerging. This led to the removal of certain travel bans that had been cast on the country. Such changes led to an increase in the number of arrivals into the country.

To date Zimbabwe has been receiving a number of tourists which show a significant change in the state of affairs in the tourism industry. Economic programmes such as the National Economic Development Priority Programme and the Short Term Economic Recovery Programme gave rise to some significant changes in the tourism sector. Efforts that are being made by the tourism sector to participate in events such as the Sanganai Expo have made it possible to put Zimbabwe on the global map. The Zimbabwean tourism sector expected to gain advantages from the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP. This however was not really successful as poor strategies were put in place that did not ensure the success of benefiting fro the windfall. Vast improvements were made in various attractions to ensure that the Zimbabwean Tourism product was marketable.

An outline of the countrys tourism product relative strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The Zimbabwean tourism product can be said to be competitive particularly in the Southern African region. At this moment, Zimbabwe has been elected into the executive council representing Southern Africa. Efforts are being made to ensure that the Zimbabwean tourism product is sellable and competitive even on an international scale. However there is need to develop new resorts so as to attract new markets while refurbishing the existing ones. A SWOT analysis of the countrys tourism product is outlined below.

Strengths Zimbabwe is blessed by an array of very beautiful places which attract thousands of tourists to the country every year. This gives the country some significant advantages in developing the tourism product. The attractions include the ones outlined in the first part of the report. Zimbabwe can be considered to be a peaceful country. The country also has a relatively low crime rate as compared to other countries such as South Africa. The use of a multi-currency system which enables individuals to travel to Zimbabwe with the need to convert their money. A wide human resource base which ensures that the tourism sector, despite its high turnover is well staffed. The country also has a high literacy rate and because of this training is not really a problem this has resulted in the training of tourism and hospitality studies at major educational institutions such as the University of Zimbabwe.;

The existence of a wide road, rail and air industry. Because transport plays a pivotal role in tourism, the transport network encourages the link between towns and attractions as well as neighbouring countries.

A tourism and hospitality ministry that is bent on making the Zimbabwean tourism product a success. Competitive infrastructure

Weaknesses

Few airlines plying the Zimbabwe route. The main airliner, Air Zimbabwe has an old fleet of airlines some of which are not internationally competitive. Lack of a rigid tourism master plan and policy. This leaves the sector directionless and with no existing guidelines.

The inability to market the country as a tourism destination that is internationally competitive. This made other countries such as Zambia and South Africa to market the other attractions such as Victoria galls as their own.

Old and tired markets. Inability to look at newer markets. lack of adequate funding for the sector The concept of hospitality not being envisaged by all those who come into contact with the tourists, e.g., immigration officials

Opportunities

the growth of awareness of tourism as a significant industry particularly in the Southern Africa. The existence of various organisations such as RETOSA The lifting of travel bans to Zimbabwe by other countries after the signing of the global political agreement.

The signing of the global political agreement which has brought about economi9c stability through the adoption of the multi-currency system.

Introduction of a local airline, FlyKumba, plying the Bulawayo Johannesburg route. Improvements in the technological advancements which have encourage the us3e of state of the art systems such as Global Distribution Systems.

The election of Zimbabwe into the UNWTO executive council representing Southern Africa.

Improvements in the state of the countrys transport network likely to follow the introduction of toll gates which may provide funding.

Threats the economic and political uncertainty that Zimbabwe is going through deter investment

the negative publicity tat has been deep seeded in the minds of the tourists which needs to be changed

The rampant electricity shortages that are making it difficult to operate. This has been made worse by the lack of alternative sources of energy

Stiff visa requirements which make it difficult for potential tourists High poverty rates in Zimbabwe with a greater percentage of residents living below the average poverty datum line. This may increase the crime rates in the country and will therefore make Zimbabwe unsafe.

The various epidemics and pandemics such as cholera, AIDS, Swine flu. Because of Zimbabwes inability to combat these diseases, it makes the country an unsafe destination to be. The AIDS pandemic has also reduced the life expectancy of the population as well as killed the economic active population.

The current interbank rates and fixed exchange rates which are not market regulated make it difficult for both investors and tourists.

The indigenisation policy that requires 51% local ownership of operating companies might scare away investors.

Deforestation as a result of lack of alternative sources of energy. This is a threat to the countrys beautiful flora and fauna

Poaching The global credit crunch which has resulted in the closure of credit lines

Policy recommendations that the government need to implement in order to revive the economy. There is need to come up with environmentally conducive policies that are in the best interests of the environment to encourage investment Shift focus from the traditional markets to other markets such as Asia and South America Encourage and promote non-consumptive tourism which does not destroy the attractions. Ned to promote domestic tourism as well as to promote other neglected tourists destinations Need to come up with a tourism master plan after some broad consultations with the various stakeholders in the sector Make use of market determined exchange rates and interbank rates Promote sustainable development and come up with environmentally friendly operations in the tourism sector.

10

Conclusion A number of changes ensued the formation of the inclusive government and the tourism sector has not been spared. The above report tries to bring out some of the changes and the recommendations that can be put in place in order to revive the tourism industry

Bibliography

1. 2.

www.Africabusinessnews.com

Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa: OSSREA

3. 4.

Central Statistical Office Reports

Zimbawe Tourism Authority Annual Reports

11