The ManicaPost
Kudzanai Gerede Post Correspondent
THE Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry has come up with a Community Based Tourism Enterprises (CBTEs) Master Plan that seeks to decentralise tourism activities from the conventional tourist hotspots as it moves towards diversification of the local destination package and empowering communities.
Tourism has been generally perceived as an elite sector for the affluent, hence the ministry will ensure communities which harbour unique tourist attractions should be handed the opportunity to venture into the tourism business and benefit from the “low hanging fruit”.
The project aims at augmenting the tourism sector’s contribution to national economy through promotion of collective-community based entrepreneurship in tourism and has identified pilot project sites in four provinces, thus Gairezi eco-tourism in Manicaland, Chesvingo Karanga Cultural Village in Masvingo, Bulawayo Township in Bulawayo and Tengenenge Arts and Craft Centre in Mashonaland Central.
CBTEs are meant to empower local communities that boast of unique tourist attractions that have not been previously tapped.
A CBTE is a form of tourism business which operates within the environment of the local community which may be run by an individual(s) or the whole community.
Addressing industry stakeholders at a seminar on CBTEs Master Plan, acting Tourism and Hospitality Minister, Dr Lazarus Dokora, said tourism was a low hanging fruit in generating foreign currency for the country, while he accentuated the need for CBTEs to fully harness tourism business opportunities that have lied untapped for many years.
“Relative to mining and manufacturing industries, tourism is not as capital intensive because the seminal infrastructure is already there in terms of Pristine landscapes, the natural heritage objects, the natural fauna and flora and of course the people who make things happen.
“What is needed is capacity building to tape and exploit the above for both economic and social benefit,” he said.
The project was a sequel to an earlier project on Enhanced Participation of Youth and Women in Tourism which saw the ministry manage to undertake an audit of old and potential CBTEs in the country as well as assessment of the capacity levels and challenges faced.
The minister said with adequate training and capacity building of local communities in identified areas for the pilot project, the country stands to benefit from this type of tourism.
“With appropriate training, promotion and technical assistance, communities can realise the treasures found within their vicinities, fully appreciate and utilise them in an organised manner with the aim of deriving benefits thereafter.
“These benefits come by way of allowing tourists to visit these communities and learn about culture and the environment,” he said.
The first phase was focusing on data gathering and information after a baseline survey followed by the selection of sites and capacity building activities at each project site with the second and final phase focused on developing theme trails to be experienced by tourists.
The tourism sector has been going through a vigorous restructuring epoch since the launch of the National Tourism Strategy in 2014 spearheaded by Engineer Walter Mzembi which envisions a US$5 billion tourism economy and five million arrivals annually by year 2020.
The sector has seen commendable growth in recent years following various marketing strategies by Government to reclaim its lost tourist base that had thinned owing to negative portrayal of the local destination market over the last decade and a half. But efforts to adequately market the country on a global scale continue to face challenges due to poor allocation of funds into the sector from the constrained fiscus.
Analysts have welcomed the CBTEs as a noble exercise in unveiling unconventional tourism packages but call for a massive resource mobi
