ZCT to relaunch tourism

HERBERT Nkala, chairman of the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT), announced that the ZCT has several initiatives to relaunch tourism, back to its position as the fastest growing sector of the economy now that the elections are over. The first will be the launch of the Tourism Recovery Plan, details of which will be unveiled to the public early next month. Nkala said that tourism is usually the first and heaviest casualty whenever civil unrest occurs, but fortunately is also the first to recover. Zimbabwe tourism has experienced a dramatic decrease in arrivals over the past seven months which has led to the downsizing of operations and manpower by the majority of companies. The ZCT hopes that the new dispensation will rebuild confidence in tourists to start making plans to visit Zimbabwe again. Nkala said: "Council welcomes the statements made by the law enforcement agents assuring the public that it will decisively deal with unrest and supports the efforts by Police to ensure that the post election period remains calm, which is critical for the sustained recovery of the tourism industry." (Mary Ann Parker)