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    Govt concerned about poor hotel standards, services

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    Harare, (New Ziana) – Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbra Rwodzi has expressed concern about the chaos surrounding the grading of some tourism facilities and the quality of services they provide.

    The tourism sector, the third biggest contributor to the national Gross Domestic Product after mining and agriculture, targets to become a US$5 billion economy by 2025 in line with the country’s to attain middle-income status by 2030.

    During an interactive engagement with the local media in the capital this week, Rwodzi said the quality of service offered at some tourism facilities around the country; especially hotels is not in line with the grades they claim and the charges they levy tourists and other visitors.

    These are some of the challenges that the Tourism Amendment Bill currently going through stakeholder consultations is expected to address, including emerging trends to strengthen destination marketing and promotion and establish a more enabling environment for tourism businesses to thrive.

    Rwodzi said these practices negatively impact international tourists, most of whom know what to expect from facilities according to their gradings, only to find that the quality of services does not match the payments they make. Added to this is the proliferation of AirBnBs in some urban areas that are unwilling to pay the 2 percent Zimbabwe Tourism Fund (ZTF) levy for the promotion and development of tourism in the country.

    She said most of the booking facilities that have mushroomed in Harare’s avenues area are unregistered and pay scant attention to registration requirements, standards and quality of service in running such facilities, with many degenerating into brothels.

    “These establishments are not providing the services they claim to offer and are instead deceiving clients by not delivering value for the money paid. There is a significant mismatch between the charges and the services available,” Rwodzi said as she related a personal experience at one such facility.

    She took the opportunity to explain that she had not fired the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority board and chief executive officer as reported in some sections of the media.

    “When I came in as a Minister, I asked for a forensic audit, in fact, a forensic examination which cuts across not just the financial part but the whole institution, including human resources, because we intended to clean up and start afresh so that we find out the areas where problems emanated from,” she said.

    “We asked the board to step aside. You wrote different versions but let me say we have not fired the board but just asked them to step aside whilst the audit is going on. Also, we did not fire the CEO. I didn’t fire the CEO or did I do anything to make her go except, ask for a forensic examination and she said she wasn’t comfortable to be stepping aside for six months or so waiting for the results and she opted to resign.”

    “One board member also offered to resign in the same spirit. Meanwhile, the forensic audit is nearing completion with the final results due to come out by the end of this month.”

    New Ziana

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