Zimbabwe has been urged to entice the Chinese travel agency ctrip.com to come and set base in Harare, as part of measures to attract Chinese tourists.
China is arguably the largest contributor of outbound tourists in the world due to its huge population.
Zimbabwe has been over the years trying to attract as many as possible Chinese tourists to the country.
The country has gone as far as conducting the China-Ready Program for the tourism sector, on top of various Memoranda of Understanding between the two governments.
Speaking recently, Nyanga South legislator Supa Mandiwanzira said he would love to see Zimbabwe attracting the travel agency to set base in Harare.
‘’I would actually love to see the biggest Chinese travel agency CTRIP, for instance, set up in this country because then we can attract the Chinese tourists that we would like to fill our hotels.
‘’I would propose that this be looked at either by saying there should be partnerships with locals but not entirely reserve this for locals, because we then are trying to undermine the tourism industry that is growing significantly,’’ he said.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube is on record telling Parliament that next year, the country is working to increase visibility in promising regional and global markets by deploying a tourism attache.
‘’In 2026, government will continue to strengthen market development and diversification through deploying tourism attachés to six additional emerging markets, namely, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Nigeria, Turkey and Australia. This strategic expansion aims to broaden the country’s presence both regionally and globally, increasing visibility in these promising source markets,’’ he said.
The government through the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry has already flighted advertisement for the six tourism attache’s.
Meanwhile, the government has also indicated that it will also strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation to boost the country’s image and tourism development by adopting global best practices. Investments in market research and joint marketing initiatives for key tourism products and corridors will be upscaled.
As part of promoting Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) it will continue to bid for international conferences to be held in Zimbabwe.
‘’In addition, government will continue bidding for major international conferences through the National Convention Bureau and actively participate in flagship tourism expos, meetings and exhibitions at regional and international levels.
‘’As the global market shifts toward a digital economy, priority will be on investing in digital marketing infrastructure, particularly artificial intelligence, to enhance competitiveness, critical to accelerating the country`s performance on the global tourism landscape.’’
