The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has started shutting down unregistered tour operators, following expiry of the deadline to register their businesses with the authority, which was March 31.
The ZTA says that only 50% of the 284 unregistered players heeded the call, which was initiated by Tourism Minister Prisca Mupfumira, in an effort to regularise tourism operations in Zimbabwe. It has now begun a crackdown on the remaining 142 operators, with “an estimated national target of about 600, which are said to be operating clandestinely”, said the ZTA.
ZTA chief operating officer, Givemore Chidzidzi, said that in Zimbabwe’s drive to uphold its ‘open for business mantra’, it is important that the tourism sector is restored in a bid to attract foreign investment and contribute significantly to the national fiscus. “We have intensified the registration drive, because the minister issued the moratorium and some of these players have remained defiant to comply, therefore we have no option but to close them down to create an optimum playing field in which peoples’ operations are known, and they comply with legal and tax requirements.”
The minimum that players (which are mainly lodges and restaurants) are expected to pay is $300 (€243), but the complaints being issued are that due to a liquidity crunch, players are not able to meet these requirements. Section 36 of the Tourism Act of 1996 requires tourism players to be registered and licensed, with a further 2% of their revenue being remitted to the ZTA in their business operations. “We are not a revenue-making organisation and the fee we are charging for registration is for administrative purposes because, as an organisation, we have operational costs and our main mandate is to administer the sector to make sure it benefits the country,” said Chidzidzi.
