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Isdore Guvamombe  Tourism Matrix
Today, Zimbabwe joins the world tourism family in commemorating the World Tourism Day, set aside by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

Our commemorations this year are being held at the Binga Hot Springs. This is an important day for Zimbabwe as it comes hardly a month after we successfully co-hosted the UNWTO General Assembly, the first ever to be held in Southern Africa and only the second to be held in Africa, with Zambia.

This year’s celebrations, which are being held under the theme “Using Water for Sustainable Tourism”, are coinciding with the beginning of the Kariba Invitational Tiger Fishing Tournament, the world’s biggest fresh water fishing tournament that will run until October 4.

Of great importance is that the tourism and hospitality industry in Zimbabwe led by Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi will converge on Binga, the southernmost part of Kariba Dam, to commemorate the event far away from the hullabaloo of the urban life.

The Binga Hot Springs, the epicentre of tourism in Matabeleland North, outside the Victoria Falls, are famed for their seething natural hot water and they connect well with the UNWTO theme.

After the World Tourism Day, all roads lead to Kariba for the tournament that brings more than 700 world acclaimed fishermen from as far afield as United Kingdom, the United States of America and Seychelles, to compete in catching Africa’s most elusive and dangerous freshwater predatory fish — the tiger.

The biggest tiger fish caught in Kariba Dam since the tournament started about 51 years ago was a 16kg monster caught in 1962 while the biggest tiger fish caught in the world was a 20kg monster caught in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was aptly named the Goliath.

Catching the tiger fish — named after the predatory land mammal, the tiger — is no mean business, it takes about 10 minutes on average to pluck the fish out of the water.

Upon being caught on the line, the tiger which has ferocious teeth that can easily cut off a human being’s finger, makes darting runs with intermittent leaps and bounces until it eventually surrenders and is pulled belly up into the boat.

All in all, more than 1 000 people comprising fishermen, support staff and journalists are expected to converge on Kariba for the world’s biggest fresh water fishing extravaganza.

The tiger fish is striped like the land mammal and does not feed on a stationary target. Tournament organisers have banned charming and pre-tournament spying in the spirit of fairness and competitiveness, in a bid to avert giving advantage to local anglers.

Winners of the tournament stand to walk away with a variety of prizes such as vehicles and floating trophies.
The tournament has run annually for 51 years without fail, thanks to the determination of the organisers.

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