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Dr Mzembi

Mabasa Sasa at the UNITED NATIONS

Zimbabweans are shooting themselves in the foot by mischaracterising the situation in their own country in a manner that discourages tourist arrivals, a Cabinet minister has said. In an interview with Zimbabwean media in New York during the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Dr Walter Mzembi said ongoing attempts by political opposition-led groups were hindering growth of a viable sector.

Dr Mzembi was part of President Mugabe’s delegation to the General Assembly as well as an earlier Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela; and he is on the campaign trail to become the Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organisation last year.

The Tourism Minister said the campaign had been going well, but warned that opposition political actors were not doing Zimbabwe any favours with their actions.

“I have to bemoan the contradictions of the system here. While I am getting huge endorsements in my campaign, the country is suffering setbacks such as travel advisories issued by the United States and United Kingdom about two, three days ago. It is very unfortunate that the establishment is latching onto and hanging onto negative messages from the protest movement.

“I implore the citizens of Zimbabwe to understand that they are making themselves a huge laughing stock because there is social media and anyone can Google ‘Zimbabwe’ and find out what is really happening in Zimbabwe.

“The protest movements are conceiving untruths and then they purvey them and we get travel advisories, which is like putting sanctions on ourselves,” he said.

Dr Mzembi said tourism had brought in around US$600 million dollars in the half-year to June and he projected total receipts for 2016 to surpass US$1,3 billion, but this was being threatened by people peddling untruths about Zimbabwe.

He said he was working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to project the true image of Zimbabwe.

Dr Mzembi also thanked President Mugabe for assisting his campaign to become UNWTO Secretary-General, saying being part of the Presidential delegation accorded him opportunities to engage the international community at a much higher level than if he was doing it all alone.

Apart from already getting Africa’s endorsement for the UNWTO post, Dr Mzembi said he had made significant headway in selling his campaign to Latin America, which he described as a key bloc in his quest, as well as several European countries including Serbia and Croatia.