REVELATIONS that the ongoing United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in Victoria Falls has drawn the highest number of delegates in the history of the organisation is something that Zimbabwe must be proud of.
Southern Eye Editorial
Victoria Falls is jointly hosting the biennial event with the neighbouring resort town of Livingstone, Zambia, and this has created a buzz in the tourism sector in Zimbabwe, which is eyeing recovery after a decade of politically-induced decline.
UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai rightly pointed out at one of the media briefings in Victoria Falls that infrastructure was one of the obstacles that prevented developing countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia from realising maximum benefits from tourism.
He expects the conference to come up with ways to improve major infrastructure vital for the sector. Addressing a media briefing, Rifai said the Victoria Falls and Livingstone assembly was the best attended in the history of UNWTO.
The conference was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebrand Zimbabwe’s tourism and judging from the events of the last few days this is going according to the script.
Indeed the co-hosting of the event must be seen as another milestone towards Zimbabwe’s reintegration into the community of nations. The legacy of the conference is the sprucing up of the hospitality infrastructure in Victoria Falls and surrounding areas.
However, the major milestone is the improved connectivity in Victoria Falls that has come up as a direct result of the hosting of the event.
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Zimbabwe’s biggest telecommunication companies — Econet and Telecel — have been visible in Victoria Falls putting their money where their mouths are.
African destinations are lagging behind when it comes to use of technology to enhance tourism products and the investments by the two countries would leave an indelible mark on Victoria Falls.
The world famous tourist town will never be the same again!
It is now up to Zimbabwe’s tourism stakeholders to ensure that the benefits of this prestigious world event cascade to other destinations in the country. Although more could have been done to market other destinations within the region such as Matopos, all is not lost and we must consider the UNWTO conference a launch pad.
