BELGIAN travel writer Peter Soete who is in the country says he is here to discover the World of Wonders that the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) always preaches about.
Soete, who came courtesy of a partnership between ZTA, Love for Africa and Rwanda Air, came at the invitation of the Zimbabwean Embassy in Belgium which wants him to write about Zimbabwe to the Belgian and Dutch market.
Though Zimbabwe boasts of various tourists attractions such as the majestic Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe Ruins and the world’s Big Five, it is generally unknown in Belgium.
In an interview at the Robert Mugabe International Airport, Soete who writes for Roularta Media Group (Belgium) said he heard from the Zimbabwe Embassy that there is a fresh wind of tourism blowing in the country.
I am here on an invitation by the Zimbabwean Embassy in Belgium, I met the ambassador and he said that there is a whole fresh wind blowing in Zimbabwe now concerning tourism…
“So that is why I came here just for a week it’s a short time but I am a professional travel journalist so I travel all the time I had to squeeze in Zimbabwe between Croatia and France but I am very glad to be here, the flight was smooth with a bit of delays but its normal nowadays with aeroplanes.
“I am looking very much forward to discover a country that you promote as a World of Wonders which is the tagline for ZTA,” he said.
The Belgian journalist had praises for officials from ZTA who he described as being professional compared to those from the various African countries he has travelled to in the past.
Some other African countries he has visited during the course of his work include Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana among many others on the continent.
Soete whose itinerary includes Victoria Falls and various camps in Hwange said he is interested in sustainable tourism which answers to his readers interests.
“I am interested in tourism mainly sustainable tourism that is Eco-tourism.
“Is Zimbabwe focusing on Eco-tourism already or they are not yet that is a key issue for my readers and my fellowmen in Belgium because they like to discover new things but not at the cost of people or animals.
“I have meetings with guys from lodges they have talked me through and hopefully convinced me to see the perfect things of Zimbabwe,” he said.
The visit by Soete is part of ZTA’s strategy of marketing Zimbabwe as a safe tourism destination and the other strategy includes appointing targeting prominent figures as tourism ambassadors.
Tourism is one of the key economic revival pillars in Zimbabwe together with agriculture, and mining and some economists have gone further to point it as a low hanging fruit with quick wins.
