‘We are Victoria Falls’ campaign in 2nd phase “What really blew me up by Zimbabwe is its people. I was very impressed with attractions such as Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe and Hwange National Park. 

Leonard Ncube

Victoria Falls Reporter

VICTORIA Falls has launched the second phase of its communication and recovery campaign dubbed “We are Victoria Falls”, which seeks to showcase the resort town’s readiness to welcome back tourists.

Already, over 30 000 international prospective travellers have been reached so far.

The “We are Victoria Falls” campaign is an independent public-private crisis communication and recovery initiative mandated by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, and supported by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to represent the tourism community of Victoria Falls during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its major mandate is to communicate reliable, up-to-date information on the destination management of Covid-19, collecting and disseminating information on external trade sentiment to aid preparedness and response, and reinforcing the brand position of the destination. Campaign consultant, Ms Shelly Cox, said the campaign was moving to Phase Two now that travel restrictions are being lifted and the destination reopening to international travellers.

“Phase Two will highlight that we are ready to welcome international visitors back to Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe. We have weathered the Covid-19 storm by working together and putting the necessary protocols in place; we are open for business. Phase Two will take us to Q1 (first quarter) 2021 when we expect Victoria Falls to have fully resumed all the tourism related operations.

“It has done extremely well and we have reached an estimated 30 000 plus people worldwide with the updates of what has been happening in terms of preparedness and response of Victoria Falls to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Ms Cox.

The campaign’s catch phrases are “We are preparing”, “We are ready” and “We are excelling.”

Ms Cox said they crafted content that amplifies messages around crisis response, preparing and community support and solidarity as well as highlighting efforts taking place in the resort town to mitigate Covid-19 threats.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Victoria Falls Chapter chairperson, Mr Anald Musonza, said having weathered the Covid-19 storm, the destination was now ready for tourism re-start.

“(Under) Phase two we are saying that we are ready and we are going to all stakeholders to tell them that we are ready to host them. We are also saying it is time to tell the positive stories that we have achieved,” he said.

The campaign seeks to vigorously use social media to reach to prospective clients who should visit the country’s prime tourism destination. The campaign hinges on health successes where the country has one of the lowest Covid-19 infection rates in Southern Africa, with statistics showing a consistent reduction in the infection rate while Victoria Falls remained predominantly healthy throughout the pandemic, according to the campaign organisers.

Phase 1 ran from June to September 2020 and included getting the buy-in and support from local tourism stakeholders as well as building the trust and confidence of external trade partners through getting responses on social media platforms. Phase Two is starting this month and will run until the first quarter on 2021 when the country’s tourism sector is expected to warm up to the peak season.

Lately, Zimbabwe’s tourism sector has seen resumption of domestic, regional and international flights while 40 percent of tourism related businesses have reopened following relaxation of lockdown measures.

The tourism industry expects an additional 20 percent of businesses to reopen towards the end of the year and full resumption of services in the second quarter of next year.

A competition dubbed the “Zimbabwe Destination Development Programme” targeting 20 small to medium exceptional tourism experience providers is also being run together with the campaign.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey