The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has continued its drive to strengthen its tourism promotion in Africa by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Eswatini Tourism Authority at Africa’s Travel Indaba, which concluded today (Thursday, May 11) in Durban.
The MoU intends to establish a legal framework for advancing institutional and business co-operation between the two parties.
The two tourism authorities will facilitate joint marketing of tourism products and the creation of promotional campaigns to boost domestic, regional and international tourism, amongst other initiatives.
Zimbabwe's Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mangaliso Ndlovu, and his Eswatini Counterpart, Moses Vilakati, were present at the signing ceremony. Eswatini Tourism Permanent Secretary, Khangeziwe Mabuza was also present.
"We've just got another ally in marketing tourism in the Southern African region. Most of our key source markets are long-haul markets, and as they come to this part of the world, we would like them to visit a couple of countries before they head back. Adding Eswatini to the network is a welcome development. The Royal Kingdom of Eswatini's airline started flying into Zimbabwe, and this makes the connectivity between the two countries, which allows for a smoother movement between the two countries. Above those, the two authorities will benefit from benchmarking activities," said ZTA CEO, Winnie Muchanyuka.
Eswatini Tourism CEO, Linda Nxumalo, said: "We're excited to enter into this partnership with the ZTA. This comes after His Majesty King Mswati visited Zimbabwe, and while there, he emphasised that we must partner and collaborate on issues of tourism. The MoU will focus on collaboration on destination promotion and marketing issues, tour operator product educational programmes, staff exchange programmes, and cultural and culinary exchange programmes.”
Zimbabwe's Ambassador to South Africa, David Hamadziripi, also expressed excitement at the new business partnership, particularly coming hot on the heels of Eswatini Air's return to Zimbabwe last month.
