Government has availed a tourism sector rescue package totalling ZWD$600 million to help mitigate the effects caused by the covid 19 pandemic within the sector which has been the hardest hit mainly due to a halt in international travel, a cabinet minister has confirmed.
Participating in a virtual seminar sponsored by Zimparks and Wildlife yesterday, Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister, Honourable Mangaliso Nqobizitha Ndlovu said Government had initially set aside $20million as a stimulus package before treasury agreed to increase it to $100 million.
“Initially $20 million was set aside before treasury agreed to increase the amount to $100 million,” he said. The minister also added that there is an additional ZWD$500 million in the form of a loan guarantee facility to assist in getting tourism back on track, emphasising the need for close co-operation between the financial sector and the tourism sector in order to achieve this.
Minister Ndlovu also said that it is still work in progress with regards to establishing a tourism revolving fund that is meant to assist both new entrants and already established players in the sector. Chief among the expectations of Government are, to direct focus onto the domestic tourism market while embracing product diversification.
“We want to inculcate a culture of visiting within our locals and create volume based recovery of the tourism sector,” minister Ndlovu said.
Asked about his predictions for 2020 in terms of how much tourism is likely to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product, the minister said he expected it to be in the region of between ZWD$400-800 million as he expected that in the last quarter of the year the industry would be “pretty open” than it is now.
