[2014]

Hosted By: Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality

Industry Zimbabwe Tourism Authority

[29 May 5 June 2014]

EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON TOURISM AND TRADE (ECTT)

VISIT TO ZIMBABWE

Awards Handover Ceremony Familiarization Tour

Courtesy Calls

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PREFACE

The recent visit by the European Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT) came

as a follow-up to the conferment of Zimbabwe as the World Best Tourist

Destination for 2014 and the Favourite Cultural Destination 2014. The latter

being the highest tourism accolade bestowed on any destination based on

Zimbabwes rich tourism product diversity, preservation of cultural heritage

and promotion of community based tourism. It is in this purview that the

awarding institution paid a visit to the country for the purpose of handing over

the awards to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, CDE

R.G Mugabe.

His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, CDE R. G. Mugabe and the ECTT President

Professor DR. A. Caragea pose for a photo while the Vice President Amai J. T. Mujuru, Minister of Tourism

and Hospitality Industry, Hon Eng. W. Mzembi and Minister of Sports Arts and Culture , Hon A. Langa

looks on and celebrating success.

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STRUCTURE OF THE VISIT

The 7-Day visit by the ECTT delegation took various formats characterized by

courtesy calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senior Minister of State in the

Presidents office as well as the Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,

Amai Joyce Mujuru. In all these meetings, the delegation expressed optimism

for Zimbabwes potential in tourism development as the countrys tourism

endowments are unique and incomparable to any destination.

From left: Hon Ionel Agrigoraei Romanian Senator and Chairman of the European Parliamentary

Committee, Hon. W. Mzembi Minister of Tourism and Hospital ity industry, Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Amai Joyce Mujuru, ECTT President, Professor, Dr A. Caragea and Prof. Dr Mircea Constantinescu Director of European Tourism Academy as they pose for a picture after the courtesy call.

Familiarization tours were undertaken for the delegations appreciation of

Zimbabwes tourism product base. The delegates managed to tour the Victoria

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Falls where they embarked on various activities such as flight of the Angels,

tour of the crocodile farm, visit of the rain forest and elephant riding.

ECTT Delegation posing for a picture before embarking on the Flight of the Angels in Victoria Falls

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The team also visited the Great Zimbabwe where they were presented with an

insightful history of Zimbabwe and its culture.

ECTT President introducing his delegation to the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs (Masvingo Province)

Hon K. Bhasikiti before just before the tour of the Great Enclosure

The visit also entailed an appreciation of Agro tourism as the delegation visited

the New Donnington farm in Norton.

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ECTT President, Professor, Dr A. Caragea shares a lighter moment with his colleagues Hon Ionel (Senator Agrigoraei Romanian Senator and Chairman of the European Parliamentary Committee) and Mr Matei during the tour of New Donnington farm in Norton.

This visit was mainly meant to expose the ECTT delegation to the successes of

the Land Reform program which has been demonized mostly by the Western

media.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT

Prior to the visit, several meetings were held with industry operators in

preparation for the visit. These meetings were held mostly to inform the

industry of this visit as well as the meaning of the awards to the destination.

The industry supported the visit through:

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Complementary Accommodation and meals (Meikles, Victoria Falls

Hotel, Africa Albida Tourism, Cresta Sprayview, Flamboyant hotel)

Complementary / discounted vehicle hire (LED and Khanondo Safaris)

Complementary Cruise ( Zambezi Explorer)

Complementary activities ( Crocodile Farm visit / Elephant riding &

Flight of the Angels)

Complementary Access into the Great Zimbabwe Monuments / Heroes

Acre)

Rebated Air Tickets (HRE/VF/HRE)

Smooth airport reception and farewell

AWARDS CEREMONY

The main thrust of the whole visit, as alluded earlier was the Awards handover

ceremony which took place on Wednesday 4 June 2014 at the HICC. The

ceremony attracted attendance of more than 500 delegates from the public

sector to the private sector alike. In his remarks during the handover

ceremony, the President of the ECTT Council, Professor Dr. Anton Caragea

impressed upon Zimbabwes potential to be the powerhouse of tourism in

Africa and that indeed Zimbabwe deserved the Awards.

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Thrust of President R. G. Mugabes Speech

In his acceptance speech, President Mugabe acknowledged the conviction by

the ECTT to see Zimbabwe prospering especially in the verge of negative

publicity and sidelining. He reiterated the need for Zimbabwe to believe in its

capacity, especially in the rich diverse tourism products the country is

endowed with. The H.E. saw the awards as a wake up call to the nation on

leveraging on the potential the country has. He proposed therefore the launch

of the Know yourself, Know your Zimbabwe campaign with the aim of creating

knowledgeable citizens towards tourism wealth in Zimbabwe. Of interest was

the Presidents recognition of the role the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality

Industry plays in implementing innovative ideas that has seen Zimbabwe

recognized and visible in many platforms.

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Group Photo after the ceremony

PUBLICITY

The media played a pivotal role in creating public awareness of the ECTTs visit

to Zimbabwe as the covered preparations prior to the visit, delegations arrival,

famil tours and courtesy calls undertaken and mostly the Awards ceremony.

Negative publicity was witnessed prior to the visit as this embroiled the EU

ambassador to Zimbabwe who at that point was not aware of this recognition.

However, the visit served as an exonerating stance for Zimbabwe which then

diverted all doubts to belief and confidence that indeed Zimbabwe had won the

awards.

Broadcast, print and online media covered the awards extensively with the

publicity still continuing even to date. Below is a statistical review of the

articles published on the ECTT awards:

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Online Platforms that featured the Awards

VOA Zim, Zimbojam, shanghaidaily.com (Xinhua), ectt.webs.com,

harare24.com, swradioafrica.com, nehandaradio.com, zimbabweelection.com,

zimeye.org, zimdev.wordpress.com, africatime.com, AllAfrica.com,

centruldiplomatic.wordpress.com, bepa.co.zw, zimbbawesituation.org and

newzimbabwe.com. Social media also played a pivotal role especially on

platforms such as facebook, twitter and blogs.

Broadcast Media

ZTV

ZBC Radio News and programmes (Tourism Today, Business Diary)

Star Fm

ZiFM

Aljazeera

Xinhua

Statistical Analysis

Positive: 34

Negative: 2 (covered on the Zimbabweelection.com and on the criticism of EU

awards)

Fair: 3

Total Articles: 39

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CONCLUSION

Going forward, Zimbabwe is encouraged to leverage on these awards especially

in all its marketing efforts as they can be a key to unlocking great tourism

potential. For example, the previous winner of the awards, Laos PDR recorded

an 8% increase in the number of incoming tourists during the year 2013/2014

because of these awards.

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Tour of the Heroes Acre