The Zimbabwean government has been urged to provide adequate funding for effective and well- coordinated marketing programs, targeting East Asian and South American markets, the Sunday Mail reported.

 

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has been tasked by the central committee of the ruling ZANU-PF to promote and market the country's tourism sector as an important component of tourism development, the newspaper said.

 

Asia, which is the emerging market, responded to Zimbabwe's marketing efforts positively by registering the highest growth of 75 percent during the first half of 2006.

 

"Volumes from the Asian market might be low, but the growth is very significant. This shows that the authority's marketing endeavors are paying off," said ZTA marketing and communications Manager Givemore Chidzidzi.

 

Asia is a huge untamed tourist market for Zimbabwe, and the organization is also pursuing a number of initiatives to develop the initiative, the manager said.

 

In pursuit of the goal, the ZTA has jointly with other players in the tourism industry organized promotional trips next year to a number of Asian countries including the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia.

 

Tourism attaches had also been appointed to Zimbabwe's embassies in China and Malaysia, and plans were afoot for others to be deployed at the country's missions in India, Japan, Thailand and Mauritius.

 

Zimbabwe's tourism sector is a potential source of generating foreign currency and employment. Zimbabwe's tourism sector realized a 33-percent boost in tourist arrivals in the first half of this year with over 1 million visitors, compared with 767,230 over the same period last year.

 

The sector is slowly coming out of a decline with an increase of visitors from some African and American countries averaging growth rates of over 25 percent and Europe being the only market experiencing a decline of 13 percent during the period under review.

 

The Asian market, where Zimbabwe has made substantial marketing and promotional investments, experienced the highest growth rate, a 75-percent increase in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2006)