[2014]

Hosted By:
Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality
Industry
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority

[29 May 5 June 2014]


EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON
TOURISM AND TRADE (ECTT)
VISIT TO ZIMBABWE

Awards Handover Ceremony
Familiarization Tour
Courtesy Calls

2 | P a g e

PREFACE
The recent visit by the European Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT) came
as a follow-up to the conferment of Zimbabwe as the World Best Tourist
Destination for 2014 and the Favourite Cultural Destination 2014. The latter
being the highest tourism accolade bestowed on any destination based on
Zimbabwes rich tourism product diversity, preservation of cultural heritage
and promotion of community based tourism. It is in this purview that the
awarding institution paid a visit to the country for the purpose of handing over
the awards to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, CDE
R.G Mugabe.

His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, CDE R. G. Mugabe and the ECTT President
Professor DR. A. Caragea pose for a photo while the Vice President Amai J. T. Mujuru, Minister of Tourism
and Hospitality Industry, Hon Eng. W. Mzembi and Minister of Sports Arts and Culture , Hon A. Langa
looks on and celebrating success.
3 | P a g e

STRUCTURE OF THE VISIT
The 7-Day visit by the ECTT delegation took various formats characterized by
courtesy calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senior Minister of State in the
Presidents office as well as the Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,
Amai Joyce Mujuru. In all these meetings, the delegation expressed optimism
for Zimbabwes potential in tourism development as the countrys tourism
endowments are unique and incomparable to any destination.

From left: Hon Ionel Agrigoraei Romanian Senator and Chairman of the European Parliamentary
Committee, Hon. W. Mzembi Minister of Tourism and Hospital ity industry, Vice President of the Republic of
Zimbabwe, Amai Joyce Mujuru, ECTT President, Professor, Dr A. Caragea and Prof. Dr Mircea
Constantinescu Director of European Tourism Academy as they pose for a picture after the courtesy call.

Familiarization tours were undertaken for the delegations appreciation of
Zimbabwes tourism product base. The delegates managed to tour the Victoria
4 | P a g e

Falls where they embarked on various activities such as flight of the Angels,
tour of the crocodile farm, visit of the rain forest and elephant riding.
ECTT Delegation posing for a picture before embarking on the Flight of the Angels in Victoria Falls










5 | P a g e

The team also visited the Great Zimbabwe where they were presented with an
insightful history of Zimbabwe and its culture.

ECTT President introducing his delegation to the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs (Masvingo Province)
Hon K. Bhasikiti before just before the tour of the Great Enclosure





The visit also entailed an appreciation of Agro tourism as the delegation visited
the New Donnington farm in Norton.


6 | P a g e


ECTT President, Professor, Dr A. Caragea shares a lighter moment with his colleagues Hon Ionel (Senator
Agrigoraei Romanian Senator and Chairman of the European Parliamentary Committee) and Mr Matei
during the tour of New Donnington farm in Norton.

This visit was mainly meant to expose the ECTT delegation to the successes of
the Land Reform program which has been demonized mostly by the Western
media.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT
Prior to the visit, several meetings were held with industry operators in
preparation for the visit. These meetings were held mostly to inform the
industry of this visit as well as the meaning of the awards to the destination.
The industry supported the visit through:
7 | P a g e

Complementary Accommodation and meals (Meikles, Victoria Falls
Hotel, Africa Albida Tourism, Cresta Sprayview, Flamboyant hotel)
Complementary / discounted vehicle hire (LED and Khanondo Safaris)
Complementary Cruise ( Zambezi Explorer)
Complementary activities ( Crocodile Farm visit / Elephant riding &
Flight of the Angels)
Complementary Access into the Great Zimbabwe Monuments / Heroes
Acre)
Rebated Air Tickets (HRE/VF/HRE)
Smooth airport reception and farewell


AWARDS CEREMONY
The main thrust of the whole visit, as alluded earlier was the Awards handover
ceremony which took place on Wednesday 4 June 2014 at the HICC. The
ceremony attracted attendance of more than 500 delegates from the public
sector to the private sector alike. In his remarks during the handover
ceremony, the President of the ECTT Council, Professor Dr. Anton Caragea
impressed upon Zimbabwes potential to be the powerhouse of tourism in
Africa and that indeed Zimbabwe deserved the Awards.
8 | P a g e



Thrust of President R. G. Mugabes Speech
In his acceptance speech, President Mugabe acknowledged the conviction by
the ECTT to see Zimbabwe prospering especially in the verge of negative
publicity and sidelining. He reiterated the need for Zimbabwe to believe in its
capacity, especially in the rich diverse tourism products the country is
endowed with. The H.E. saw the awards as a wake up call to the nation on
leveraging on the potential the country has. He proposed therefore the launch
of the Know yourself, Know your Zimbabwe campaign with the aim of creating
knowledgeable citizens towards tourism wealth in Zimbabwe. Of interest was
the Presidents recognition of the role the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality
Industry plays in implementing innovative ideas that has seen Zimbabwe
recognized and visible in many platforms.


9 | P a g e


Group Photo after the ceremony

PUBLICITY
The media played a pivotal role in creating public awareness of the ECTTs visit
to Zimbabwe as the covered preparations prior to the visit, delegations arrival,
famil tours and courtesy calls undertaken and mostly the Awards ceremony.
Negative publicity was witnessed prior to the visit as this embroiled the EU
ambassador to Zimbabwe who at that point was not aware of this recognition.
However, the visit served as an exonerating stance for Zimbabwe which then
diverted all doubts to belief and confidence that indeed Zimbabwe had won the
awards.
Broadcast, print and online media covered the awards extensively with the
publicity still continuing even to date. Below is a statistical review of the
articles published on the ECTT awards:
10 | P a g e


Online Platforms that featured the Awards
VOA Zim, Zimbojam, shanghaidaily.com (Xinhua), ectt.webs.com,
harare24.com, swradioafrica.com, nehandaradio.com, zimbabweelection.com,
zimeye.org, zimdev.wordpress.com, africatime.com, AllAfrica.com,
centruldiplomatic.wordpress.com, bepa.co.zw, zimbbawesituation.org and
newzimbabwe.com. Social media also played a pivotal role especially on
platforms such as facebook, twitter and blogs.

Broadcast Media
ZTV
ZBC Radio News and programmes (Tourism Today, Business Diary)
Star Fm
ZiFM
Aljazeera
Xinhua

Statistical Analysis
Positive: 34
Negative: 2 (covered on the Zimbabweelection.com and on the criticism of EU
awards)
Fair: 3
Total Articles: 39
11 | P a g e

CONCLUSION
Going forward, Zimbabwe is encouraged to leverage on these awards especially
in all its marketing efforts as they can be a key to unlocking great tourism
potential. For example, the previous winner of the awards, Laos PDR recorded
an 8% increase in the number of incoming tourists during the year 2013/2014
because of these awards.

12 | P a g e


Tour of the Heroes Acre