By Gideon Madzikatidze in Gonarezhou, Chiredzi.
Gonarezhou National Park has tremendously recorded over a million (US$) in revenue collection growth from the three-tier pricing system’s annual payments made by domestic, regional and international tourists.
Responding to journalists during an interview on statistical revenue collections, interpretation and generation from annual tourism business pattern flows, Prudence Ndavani who is a Tourism Officer with Gonarezhou Conservation Trust (within Gonarezhou National Park) attributed the surge to transformative marketing efforts, enhancement in tourism-related infrastructure and eco-tourism.
“We technically use a three-tier pricing system by means of aggregating our tourists into domestic, regional [Southern African Development Community, (SADC)] and international segments,” Ndavani said.
“It is important to note that we fairly charge US$15 on domestic, US$25 for regional and US$30 on international tourists as entrance fees per head thereby making it accessible to a wide range of visitors,” Ndavani added.
“Tourism business revenue collection has been on an increasing path from USD$ 300 000 annually in 2017 to over a million dollars to date. The growth in revenue is mainly necessitated by factors including transformative corporate marketing efforts, enhanced tourism infrastructure and significant rise of ecotourism,” Ndavani said.
Meanwhile, Doctor Mark Barry from South Africa has confirmed that they have agreed with fellow colleagues to set aside some money in reservation for visiting Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou eco-tourism cluster.
“We have agreed to reserve some money for visiting Gonarezhou National Park, with our bias towards eco-tourism. We have fallen in love with eco-tourism and therefore committed to use that area as one of our tourism destinations,” Mark Barry said.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Barbara Rwodzi and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) are on an overdrive to make sure the country’s destinations are significantly identified, promoted and amplified to generate much needed revenue.
Minister Rwodzi recently confirmed that during this year’s Sanganai Hlanganani World Tourism Expo saw the conferences bringing together industry leaders, experts and professionals from around the world to engage in insightful discussions, share innovative ideas, and explore the latest trends in the tourism industry.
Gonarezhou boasts of some most popular features including the Chilojo cliffs, camping, big five game viewing and exploration of Runde river that offers tourists attractions features such as Chirinda pools, crocodile park, broken bridge, among others.
September is recognised as tourism month, aiming to raise awareness about the tourism sector’s essential role in promoting the nation’s development agenda
The theme for this year’s World Tourism Day is “Tourism and Peace”.