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Minister Mzembi

Nyemudzai Kakore Herald Correspondent
The media has a critical role to play in marketing Zimbabwe as a brand that is safe for tourists and whose hospitality can hardly be matched with many other countries worldwide, a Cabinet Minister has said. Speaking at a national editors’ nation branding workshop organised by the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (zinef) last Thursday, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Dr Walter Mzembi said Zimbabwe was a violence-free country run by a democratically elected Government.

He said the factual message that should be disseminated to the international community was that Zimbabwe was a constitutional democracy that held elections every five years.

Dr Mzembi said the $5 billion tourism sector was also attainable if the branding pillars of exports, culture and heritage, people, investment and immigration, tourism and governance were promoted by the media.

“There is separation of powers, which is re-affirmed all the time by the executive, judiciary and legislator as separate pillars of the State,” he said. “They speak to each other as they are constitutionally obliged to do. That is the Zimbabwe we all know here in our country.

“In my sector, I make the claim of a 33-year tourist safety record. There has not been a single loss of life of a tourist due to conflict or instability in 33 years. Now, you only have to go to other countries in Europe to understand the threat of tourism and the decimation of life due to that scourge in order to understand how peaceful this destination is.”

Dr Mzembi said the country had immeasurable media freedom compared to other countries, taking into account the various news headlines printed every day.

He took the opportunity to invite international tourists to flock to Zimbabwe, amid reports of tourists being ill-treated in several countries, including being killed. Dr Mzembi said Zimbabwe was endowed with a lot of natural resources and monuments, which were yet to be recognised as tourist destinations.

“International tourists, please stop being abused elsewhere, come to Zimbabwe we are open-armed, come and enjoy this rich bio-diversity consisting of flora and fauna,” he said.

zinef vice chairperson Mrs Victoria Ruzvidzo, who is also The Herald managing editor, said it was imperative that the media pursued a rigorous national branding initiative.

“A bad image about our country is quite damaging, even in instances where we dismiss it as mere perception,” she said. “Zimbabwe has lost millions, if not billions of dollars in potential revenue in terms of tourist receipts, Foreign Direct Investment or other goodies that come with a good international standing.

“Complementing efforts in building a national brand is not tantamount to blind and senseless loyalty. On the contrary, it speaks to one’s firm grounding in a worthy cause whose benefits are national in character.

“Therefore, as media and in our different stations and capacities, we should be eminent ambassadors of this country.”