By Kudzaishe Chimonera
Zimbabwe is stepping up efforts to market itself to international tourists with a particular focus on attracting visitors from the United States, Tourism Minister Barbara Rwodzi has said.
Speaking about the government’s tourism strategy, Rwodzi said the United States had recently overtaken the United Kingdom to become Zimbabwe’s biggest source market for visitors.
She said the ministry had restructured its operations to strengthen both international and domestic marketing of the country’s tourism sector.
“We are very, very focused about marketing our destination. We are focused about letting the world know what Zimbabwe has to offer,” she said.
Rwodzi explained that dedicated technical departments had been created within the ministry to promote the country’s tourism brand globally.
“The way we have structured our ministry was to explicably place people where they should be structured. If you look at the structure of our ministry, we have international marketing, we have domestic marketing… technical departments who can really be able to market our country,” she said.
The minister also said Zimbabwe had been receiving visits from wealthy American travellers including billionaires who often visit quietly without public attention.
“We are seeing a number of American billionaires… America is our biggest market source now, it has surpassed the UK,” she said.
According to Rwodzi, many of these high-profile visitors prefer private trips although the tourism ministry is often aware of their presence.
“American billionaires visit our destination even if they visit in silence but we know as Ministry of Tourism that at certain place there is Bill Gates, at certain place there is this and that,” she said
She added that in 2024 alone, a group of about 18 American billionaires visited Zimbabwe describing such trips as an opportunity for the country to gain positive international publicity.
“At some point in 2024, I’m sure you know they came 18 of them… what they experience is what they will go and preach,” she said.
Rwodzi said the government sometimes meets such visitors as part of what she described as “soft diplomacy”.
“This is why when they come, we go and meet and greet… respecting that we welcome them to our country. That’s the soft diplomacy we are addressing,” she said.
