Zimbabwe Tourism Authority And Thailand Tourism Association Sign MOU

The partnership deal was sealed at the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, which ended on Saturday.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, ZTA chief executive officer, Karikoga Kaseke said the MoU would go a long way in helping Zimbabwe attract the Asian market, particularly India and China.

Kaseke said currently, Zimbabwe was not receiving any significant inflows of tourists from Asian countries due to stringent visa conditions.

“We have a challenge with our visa regimes. We tend to concentrate more on the security of our nation, even though sometimes there would be no security threat to worry about. India is in Category C (countries whose nationals are required to apply for and obtain a Zimbabwe visa prior to travelling) even though it’s a good market. Why?” he said.

Kaseke said Singapore was being sustained by tourist arrivals from India.

“We need to take advantage of this MoU and implement it for the benefit of tourism in Zimbabwe,” he said.

Kaseke said in 2015, Zimbabwe received 6 925 tourists from China, a figure he said, was too small.

Speaking at the same function, Pata chief of staff, Dale Lawrence said it was their first time to sign a membership MoU with an African country at government level.

He reiterated the need for Zimbabwe to ease Indian visa conditions.

Founded in 1951, Lawrence said Pata was a not-for profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region.

He said, the association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 97 governments, State and city tourism bodies, 27 international airlines, airports and cruise liners, 63 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond.