By Daniel Chigundu
THE Zim Peace Festival that was held on the 27th of July at the Glamis Arena this year is now an annual event that will be used to promote peace in the country, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive Dr Karikoga Kaseke has revealed.
The festival which was mainly attended by members of the Christian denomination saw various leading gospel musician’s taking to the stage before prayers for peace during and after elections were conducted.
In an interview, Dr Kaseke said peace should not be about elections because it also plays an important role in the success of tourism and therefore should be a continuous thing.
“We are saying that tourism thrives on peace and peace is the most important dividend that tourism can count on so we are saying this peace festival which started this year should be an annual event because we don’t to do it for elections, no we must do it for peace.
“We don’t want peace for elections, we want peace for its own sake for peace, so we are going to be having peace festival every year where people praise the Lord, where people celebrate in jubilation, where people celebrate in peace not only in Christianity, but everyone, whether you are Christian, Muslim or you are what, civic leaders, everyone should be involved in upholding peace, so we think this peace should be held as a festival we should do every year,” he said.
Zimbabwe is well known for being a stable and peaceful country which ZTA intends to take advantage of in its destination marketing campaigns.
It is generally believed that no tourist would want to go to countries that are in conflict, war or under threat from terrorism, making Zimbabwe the best country for tourists to visit.
According to Dr Kaseke peace is important for the country adding that “we want peace weather there is an election or there is no election there has to be peace.
“We will be holding this peace festival every year, it’s now an annual event but we have not yet decided on the dates but next year we are sure we will host it and it will be bigger than the first edition,” he said.
