From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: ZIMBABWE: TOURIST CHIEFS ACT TO SAVE INDUSTRY
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 03:51:07 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Science & Industry; Agriculture
Title: ZIMBABWE: TOURIST CHIEFS ACT TO SAVE INDUSTRY


an inter press service feature

by augustine phiri

harare, oct 5 (ips) -- tourism executives in zimbabwe are
quietly putting together a counter-offensive to save business
from collapse following adverse publicity in the international
media over drought.

'i've read in foreign publications about drought and seen
pictures of dying famine victims in somalia and sudan with
captions saying the victims are from zimbabwe and zambia'', says
the director-general of the zimbabwe tourist development
corporation (ztdc).

''the same goes with television programmes'', adds nelson
samkange. such reports can scare away many potential tourists.

he accuses non-governmental organisations (ngos) of blowing
up the drought situation in their efforts to attract donors for
relief aid.

''it's not true that hotels are closing down in zimbabwe
because there is no food, water and electricity'', says the
chief executive of the zimbabwe tourist council, david chapman.

''the country is not completely devastated by drought,
particularly, on our principal tourist spots in harare, hwange,
kariba, victoria falls and bulawayo'', adds chapman.

despite the advserse publicity, samkange says: ''the effect
of drought on tourism here is marginal. our services and tourist
attractions in kariba, hwange and the victoria falls are still
intact''.

british tourist, martin holliday, who spent two weeks in
zimbabwe, seems to agree with both chapman and samkange.

''we had a marvellous time full of wonder and excitement from
fishing in kariba, the breath-taking victoria falls, puncture
mending in hwange national park, admiring the beauty of nyanga,
amazed by the great zimbabwe ruins, fascinated by the villages
and finally experiencing friendliness of the zimbabwe people''.

''when people in europe think of an african holiday, they
usually think of kenya. but i'm sure zimbabwe has as much to
offer as kenya'', adds holliday.

however, already there has been a drop in the number of
tourists from europe and north america. but officials say this
cannot be attributed to the drought.


zimbabwe: tourists (2)

the drop in the number of tourists ''is due to the current
recession in world markets and global inflation which have
pushed transport and living costs up''.

according to samkange the drop in the tourists from north
america and europe is being made up by tourists from
neighbouring south africa.

out of 636,676 tourists to zimbabwe last year, 100,000 were
from south africa. zimbabwe this year abolished entry visa
requirements for south africans.

zimbabwe last year earned 86 million u.s. million dollars
from tourism, placing the sector among the top foreign currency
earners for the southern african nation of about 11 million
people.

to counter what the officials see as a ''disinformation''
campaign, the ztdc has launched a five-millio-u.s.-dollar
tourism development programme.

the programme, aimed to woo more visitors, will run over the
next three years with joint european community (ec) funding.
the ec delegation here has confirmed contributing half of the
total cost of the project.

under the programme, the ztdc has started sponsoring
familiarisation tours for national and international writers to
tourist attractions in the country.

the first such tour was in june this year when five
journalists from britain were flown into the country and spent
two weeks. trade attaches in embassies accredited to harare
will also be involved, says samkange.

in addition, the ztdc offices abroad will engage public
relations consultants to sell zimbabwe's tourism.

running parallel to the programme is a lobbying effort to get
the government to provide more money to tourism development as
is currently given, for instance, to the tobacco industry.

an optimistic samkange told ips zimbabwe's tourism industry
would this year earn the country more than the projected 100
million u.s. dollars in foreign exchange.

the tourist industry's labour force, now standing at
36,000, is certain to increase, says samkange.
(end/ips/ap/apc/92)

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