Business Reporter
TOURISM and Hospitality Minister Barbara Rwodzi has hailed the MICE strategy for delivering positive dividends to the sector.
She made the remarks while addressing delegates at the five days long Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe Leadership Summit held in Masvingo.
MICE Tourism is a form of tourism that focuses on meetings (M), incentive travel (I), conventions (C), and Exhibitions (E).
Rwodzi credited the strategy for spurring the Tourism industry to attain the US$5 billion target.
“This was mostly achieved through receipts and investments, with Mice being the biggest contributor; this shows how much of a big and lucrative sector we are.I understand the issues of devaluation, the taxes, the volatile economy. We are lobbying for the Zimbabwe Tourism Fund, which we believe will help the sector, especially operators, in terms of loans,” Rwodzi added.
Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) president Clive Chinwada called for a review of the utilisation of the 2% tourism levy, highlighting the potential for greater impact on the industry.
The levy is charged on tourists visiting the country, collected by tourism players, and paid to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) which it mostly uses to fund its activities.
Chinwada expressed concern over the current utilisation of the levy.
“We are collecting money on behalf of ZTA, so because we are collecting, we are stakeholders ultimately. Now that we have collected, it should be utilised. The remit of how the 2% should be used ultimately is I think where the issue is, but we are collecting,” Chinwanda said.
“So, because we are collecting, we are stakeholders ultimately. And now that we should have collected, it should be utilised.”
He drew parallels with South Africa, where the 2% tourism levy is voluntary, yet, despite this, the Tourism Business Council of South Africa collects significantly more funds than TBCZ.
This, according to the TBCZ president, is due to the effective utilisation of the levy.
The president emphasised the need for a stronger TBCZ to effectively advocate for the tourism industry.
“We gave ourselves a goal. And the goal is to adequately—to have an adequately resourced and capacitated TBCZ. We should be able to champion the interests of the tourism business,” Chinwanda added.
According to ZTA, tourism receipts rose by 24% in the first half of the year to about US$493 million, from a comparative of US$398 million in 2023.
