One item the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has left on its 2013 Congress agenda is industrial tourism. We have been given the rare opportunity to host the UNWTO’s 2Oth General Assembly next month. This would have been the opportune time for us to aggressively launch our industrial tourism programme.
Last year the ministry of tourism embarked on a programme to kick-start industrial tourism. The idea was to package big companies as tourist attractions. Hwange Colliery was identified as the starting point. Some of the sites at the Colliery which were identified include the dragline machines at the open cast mine, the Kamandana Memorial Site, the processing plant and the steam engine. But it seems the project has been stillborn.
Who wouldn’t want to visit Marange Resources, a company involved in the extraction, processing and sorting of diamonds, considering that Zimbabwe has the largest reserves of diamonds in the whole world? I am sure many people, especially foreign tourists, would also want to see how Delta Beverage’s Chibuku beer is made. Other industrial sub-sectors worth mentioning include our battery manufacturing plant, glass manufacturing plant, diamond cutting center, motor assembly plant and chocolate manufacturers.
Our tainted international image can be improved through industrial tourism. Even the workers being visited can end up with a high morale. Our local brands can also gain a stronger brand loyalty internationally. Industrial tourism can also help to attract new skilled employees and also allow companies to get closer to the customer and understand what they want.
It is really important for Zimbabwe to utilize the UNWTO event to kick-start industrial tourism. My message to Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and Ministry of Tourism is: give us an additional Brand Ambassador, a seasoned industrialist who can market our manufacturing industries as tourist destinations. Names I can throw in the basket include top industrialists such as Nancy Guzha, Jimmy Psillos, Callisto Jokonya and Antony Mandiwanza.
Post published in: Business