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The African Development Bank says Zimbabwe should upgrade its tourism infrastructure to ensure the success of the recently introduced Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Exhibition initiative.Zimbabwe introduced the Mice initiative in October as a tourism development strategy.

The Mice approach is used in different countries as a way of marketing a particular country as a conferencing destination. It is also used as a way to lure business visitors and to attract international hotel chains.

In its monthly economic report for October, the AfDB said Zimbabwe should also introduce other measures to ensure it becomes a favourable Mice destination. “For the Mice initiative to be successful in Zimbabwe, there is need for intensive investments in constructing and upgrading conference halls, intensive product branding and intensive affirmation of the country’s image as a safe tourism destination,” it said.

“Zimbabwe needs to improve its tourism performance to be able to beat competition from the region and beyond.”
The AfDB said the Mice strategy had worked well in other countries including South Africa, Kenya and Mauritius. An estimated US$30 billion a year is realised in the Mice market worldwide from at least 50 million trips taken for Mice purposes. Singapore, for example, realises about 30 percent of its tourism revenue from Mice activities. — New Ziana.