Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Zimbabwe Tourism minister, Prisca Mupfumira lamented the poor connectivity to one of the country’s prime tourist destinations, Kariba.
While taking note of her obvious worry, we, however, also wish to remind her that it is not only Kariba that is inaccessible, but most of the country.
This country is, undoubtedly, among the world’s best tourist destinations, but is being hard-done by the poor roads and non-existent or poorly maintained airports. We would have thought that during the Cabinet meetings, minister Mupfumira would strongly push her case so that her colleague responsible for connectivity, namely transport, would act.
Tourism is one of those sectors which, if Mupfumira and her colleague chose to put their heads together, would shore up the country’s economy in a big way.
For example, all what Kariba needs is a connecting flight and incidentally the government actually operates some light aircraft under the District Development Fund but wonder what those aircraft are currently being used for when there is a crying need for them in the tourism sector.
Besides Kariba, the beautiful and majestic Eastern Highlands, Lowveld and the biggest national park, Hwange, all need air connectivity. There are roads to all these destinations but air links would make life easier for the tourists who would reach all these destinations in a matter of few hours.
Developing the air links is a sure way of lifting the tourism sector from the doldrums. But, unfortunately, at the moment the government seems to be clueless on how to revitalise this economy when as a country, Zimbabwe is literally sitting on a gold mine.
And tourism is just one sector that does not require any of the much-hyped foreign direct investment. There are so many well-heeled locals who can easily book flights to all the destinations if air links are available. The foreign tourists will only come as bonus.
Tags: Zimbabwe Tourism
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