Sugar Chagonda, who is in charge of Public Relations for Zimbabwe Tourism and his currently traveling with the Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism Dr.Engr Walter Mzembi posted this paragraph to his Facebook. He heard His Excellency, Mr Mohamed Yehia Rashed, the minister of tourism for Egypt saying: “I must congratulate Dr Mzembi for his dexterity and charm that saw him winning the hearts and minds of the Egyptians. I feel humbled to be part of his winning Tourism team”.

The Egyptian minister apparently mentioned this yesterday during a meeting with his counterpart from Zimbabwe.

Mzembi has been traveling the globe in his bid to become the highest leader in world tourism. The Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism, Walter Mzembi, who is working to secure the post of Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) received yet another further boost when he recently received the full backing of the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Hon. Sameh Shoukry.

Egyptian Minister Shoukry assured Minister Mzembi of his support, emphasizing that as a committed member of the African Union, Egypt was bound by the unanimous decision taken by African Heads of State and Government at the recent AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, to endorse him (Minister Mzembi) as Africa’s candidate for the top UNWTO post.

“Egypt is committed and bound by the AU resolutions, particularly on the candidature of Dr. Mzembi. We want to assure him of our support,” said the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Minister Mzembi also met with Dr. Moushira Khattab, Egypt’s former Minister of Family and Population and now the country’s candidate for the post of Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Dr. Khattab’s candidature for the top UNESCO post was also unanimously endorsed by the African Union at the recent Kigali Summit.

The two African candidates held detailed discussions yesterday on the evident synergy and potential for close coordination between UNWTO and UNESCO in terms of bringing people together; promoting deeper understanding and awareness between and among different cultures; and how, working more closely together, the two organizations could contribute more positively towards bridging divisions between peoples and nations.

The two candidates agreed to maintain close and regular contact with regard to the conduct of their respective campaigns and to work assiduously in support of each other as aspiring African candidates to positions of leadership within the broad United Nations family.

Egypt sits in both the African Union (AU) and the Arab League, hence its influence on countries on both sides of the divide. Currently, she is the chair of the UNWTO Executive Council which is expected to seat as a nomination court to receive candidatures from member states interested in fielding their nationals as candidate for the post of UNWTO Secretary General at its 104th meeting slated for October 28 to November 2, 2016, in Luxor, Egypt.

Minister Mzembi is due to leave Cairo on Saturday for Tunisia which, like Egypt, is a member of the Executive Council of the UNWTO. It is the 32-member Executive Council which, at its meeting in Madrid, Spain, in May, 2017, will elect the next Secretary General of the organization.
The current UNWTO Secretary General, Dr. Taleb Rifai, a Jordanian national, is due to stand down from the post at the end of 2017.

If elected, Minister Mzembi will take up his post of Secretary General of the UNWTO at the organization’s headquarters in Madrid, Spain, in January, 2018.

Travel to Thailand, the land of smiles. This was the statement today by the Hon. Walter Mzembi, the world traveling tourism minister from Africa. Mzembi may very well be the next Secretary General of UNWTO. He is more and more showing face everywhere. Not only tourism insiders consider him now an important global player for the largest industry in the world, travel and tourism.

With his bid to become the next Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism and Hospitality has shown his commitment and interest in reaching out to all corners of the world. It includes his planned attendance during the celebration of the upcoming World Tourism Day in Bangkok next month.

In view of the recent and ongoing attack on the Thai Travel and Tourism Industry, the minister today had the following letter delivered to H.E. Mrs. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand.

eTN was able to obtain a copy of the letter. It says:

Dear Madam Minister,

I have learnt with dismay and a deep sense of sadness of a wave in recent days, of coordinated bomb attacks, whose key target is clearly our beloved sector, Tourism.

The cold blooded acts, meant to induce fear in the travelling public, and to undermine Thailand’s buoyant and resilient Tourism Sector which recently registered record arrivals will not deter the globe from its continued expression of goodwill for the country. But once again dear colleague Sister, this latest act of aggression on our sector, should unite us against terror and heighten our resolve to find sustainable solutions to securing peace for Tourism to thrive. No cause is worth the loss of innocent lives, pursuing the happiness enshrined in tourism.

On behalf of my sector and on my own behalf, I wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the Government of Thailand, the bereaved families and those of the injured and wish them eternal peace and speed recovery respectively.

I wish to reaffirm notwithstanding all these distractions, my commitment to attend the World Tourism Day Celebrations in Bangkok on 27th September 2016.

The best way to help Thailand, under the circumstances is to continue visiting Thailand, the Land of Smiles!

Please accept Madam Minister, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Yours Hon Dr Walter Mzembi (MP),

MINISTER OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE

UNWTO CAF CHAIRPERSON

AFRICA UNION OFFICIAL CANDIDATE FOR UNWTO SECRETARY GENERAL POST, 2017 sincerely,

Today an American tourism leader,  the chairman of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP), asked the American travel and tourism industry to unite. ICTP Chairman Juergen T. Steinmetz, who is also the publisher of eTurboNews (eTN), a global news publication for the travel and tourism industry, spoke out after US presidential candidate Donald Trump leaked the result of his extensive research to link the sitting U.S. President Barack Obama to the Islamic State, a terror group also known as IS or ISIS.

It’s not April Fools’ Day, and this is not “just for laughs,” but today on August 11, 2016 Donald Trump concluded that American President Obama was the founder of the Islamic State.

These are words by Donald Trump, a native U.S. citizen running for the highest office in the United States of America. He relates a warning to the American people, as the want-to-be future leader of the free world.

Juergen Steinmetz said: “Candidate Donald Trump must be disqualified. His behavior is unacceptable for anyone, specially for someone running for public office. It would be unspeakable if he ever became president of our great country or got a leading position in our government, a government put together by the people and for the people.”

Steinmetz went on to comment: “The terror group ISIS and Trump both pray on terror, one with deadly force and bombs, the other with terroristic verbal threatening and the potential to inspire some crazy people to use such threats as a trigger for deadly force.”

“I don’t care if Trump promises everything in the book. I don’t care if his approach would guarantee us millions of jobs, if his fence along our borders would resolve our immigration issues. Adolf Hitler got the German people lots of jobs as well, and he was voted in by the German people, many of them good people, but misled and clueless.

“At this point it becomes really irrelevant what both candidates are promising.”

Steinmetz continued: “Travel and tourism is the largest industry in the world and an industry of tolerance, peace and understanding. The United States of America is seen as a tourism leader and the largest tourism market in the world. Many jobs depend on this industry.

This is our industry and our industry should unite against a political candidate preaching hate and violence, no matter in what country he is, or what he supports. We are a peaceful industry in a peaceful country with great people. Our industry is a fun industry and must stand together against hate and intolerance. The discussion is no longer pro-Democrat or pro-Republican at this point. The decision for anyone loving this country can only be ‘NOT TRUMP.’

A united NOT TRUMP voice of the American travel industry should be heard loud and clear and far. It’s extremely important for our industry to flourish.”

Steinmetz concluded: “Our Secret Service should start doing their job to protect our president, President Barack Obama, and arrest Donald Trump for terroristic threatening. I can only thank Donald Trump for revealing President Obama’s ties to ISIS and feel sorry for Mr. Trump. I wish Mr. Trump all the best for his future endeavors and hopefully he can find some professional help.”

The International Coalition of Tourism Partners is about GREEN GROWTH & QUALITY equals BUSINESS.
It’s free to join ICTP as a destination, as a stakeholder, association, tourism leader or journalist. Go to www.ictp.travel for more information.

“On World Tourism I am full to the brim with ideas,” Dr. Walter Mzembi tells eTN. Perhaps this is the solution for the largest world tourism superpower, the United States to officially join the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The solution may be 50 new members to the UNWTO, one State at a time?

This out of the box approach was discussed with U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr and Dr. Walter Mzembi, outspoken candidate for the next Secretary General of the UNWTO in 2017.

The United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Harry K. Thomas, Jr. paid a Courtney call to the Zimbabwe minister of tourism Dr. Walter Mzembi on Thursday last week.

The minister had a wide ranging discussions with the American ambassador but the key message was on Universal Membership of the UNWTO. Currently the United States is not a member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Hon. Mzembi explained to the eTurboNews (eTN) publisher Juergen T Steinmetz in a phone interview on Sunday.

“The current world situation requires an inclusive approach in interrogating contemporary challenges and prescribing solutions, especially in Tourism and Security, Migration, Natural Disasters.”

“My point in the discussion with the Hon. Ambassador was that in the new world order there is no country that does not host a tourism economy, and every country is now either a source market or destination or both.

Universal membership to the UNWTO aligned to UN’s 192 Member States will be on the top of my agenda if I was elected to become the next Secretary General of the UNWTO in 2017.”

“Recruitment will be done on the back of a transformational agenda that places a new value proposition on the table to those that opted out on why they should belong. Ahead of UN 2017, IYSTD and running concurrently with my campaign for secretary general this shall be the key thrust. Recruitment and is not a secretariat function per se. Therefore I envisage a ministerial structure, that will be assigned this task going forward.”

For many years arguments from Washington were in opposition to joining UNWTO. The argument against it is money. “Paying high membership fees for just one voice. eTN was told at a WTM dinner by a senior government officials who didn’t want to be named:”Why should the United States pay top membership fees based on population and economic output, but only has one voice equal to the voice of a very small country like San Marino or Andorra?

eTN asked Dr.Mzembi about this. His response was surprising.

Dr. Mzembi: “The ambassador and I discussed the State Membership approach, I already have States like Illinois who are open to such proposals. I will definitely bring it up in Atlanta, but it needs a reformist approach within the UNWTO organization and one has to be looking at class of membership, voting rights etc.”

Dr. Mzembi will be coming to the United States to speak at the 2016 African Diaspora World Tourism Awards in Atlanta, Ga. on August 27th. This is an historical visit to the United States and very significant for the ADWT-Awards event.

The minister added: “Without this out of the box thinking UNWTO will remain the obscure technical organization that it has been for a while.It needs fresh thinking and I am full to the brim with ideas.”

The first United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe was appointed on May 23, 1980, after the Republic of Zimbabwe came into being to replace the previous white-minority government of Rhodesia, and its successor Zimbabwe-Rhodesia (1979–1980).

The Republic of Zimbabwe came into being on April 18, 1980. The United States immediately recognized the new nation and moved to establish diplomatic relations. An embassy in Harare was established on April 18, 1980, the independence day for Zimbabwe. Jeffrey Davidow was appointed as chargé d’affaires ad interim pending the appointment of an ambassador. The first ambassador, Robert V. Keeley, was appointed one month later on May 23, 1980.

The current U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe is Harry K. Thomas, Jr., who was sworn in on December 8, 2015

To date, Dr. Mzembi is the longest serving tourism minister in UNWTO, currently serving as chair for the United Nation Commission on Africa.

He is credited with institutionalizing tourism in the Africa Union which had long overlooked tourism as a critical factor in economic and social cohesion and development. He has also been a member of Parliament for the Masvingo South Constituency since 2004 and UNWTO’s Commission for Africa Chairperson from 2013 to date.

His candidacy for the UNWTO top post was recently endorsed by the African Union.

Zimbabwe’s Tourism Minister, the Honorable Dr Walter Mzembi, has been circling the globe to lobby countries to vote for him as the next Secretary General for the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry shared his views with Sunday Mail in Zimbabwe and eTurboNews:

Minister Mzembi stated:

I have come of age as arguably the dean of African tourism ministers. As a continent, we have realised that we should give one of our own an opportunity to contest for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation secretary-general’s post. Since the UNWTO’s inception in 1975, no African has held that post and we see that we are increasingly becoming the weak link in global performance.

In the year leading to 2015, tourism arrivals to Africa declined by -3 percent, down to 53 million from 56 million. We are only participating to the extent of 3 percent of global tourism performance at US$1,5 trillion. This sector employs one in 11 people in the world, equivalent to 288 million jobs that are generated by this low-hanging fruit.

Africa’s market share is just a mere 3 to 5 percent, so we are the weak link and I think the globe needs a strong Africa that will contribute to the growth, not the decline of the sector. Our performance shouldn’t weigh down global performance.

It is only an African in that position who can reverse the trend because the world is pretty much at a loss on how to deal with Africa. Ahead of us is 2017 — the United Nations International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development — and we don’t want to get there with an Africa that is found wanting, a weak link in the chain.

We want to get there with an Africa with clarity on positive growth projections and is an equal player.

This started last year when I impressed on Africa Union Commission Chair Dr Nkosazana Dhlamini-Zuma and her team that to get to the “Africa we want”, we had to integrate the missing link in Agenda 2063 — travel and tourism — as we capture it under the UNWTO Commission for Africa that I chair.

How would we get to 2063 — 50 years from now — without a continental tourism policy?

Travel is the revolution of our contemporary times.
There were 25 million tourists 65 years ago, today we have 1, 2 billion.

This kind of exponential growth has no comparison to any other economic sector.

It would be a tragedy if Africa continues missing in action in this sector that precedes trade and investment.

There is a tradition in UN systems — if you follow the current race for the replacement of Ban ki-Moon — that favours some kind of equity and regional rotation in the deployment of key positions.

If this is anything to go by, it is in the UNWTO. It’s time for Africa, and I have been endorsed to carry the cross.

I must state here at the outset, though, that I am very grateful to the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Robert Mugabe, for allowing this special dispensation for me to run for office with the added advantage of incumbency in the capacity of Minister of Tourism.

It is a joy to work with him to the extent that he comprehends the significance of deployment to international systems as it has huge benefits for the country and continent.

UNWTO benefits to Africa

My brief is marketing and promoting Zimbabwe domestically and internationally. The campaign is an add-on to what I am already doing.

I haven’t altered my travel diary to answer this campaign.

My routine travel diary is natural to the exposure that anyone seeking office would have to be subjected to.

So, I am simply leveraging on the leadership demands of my mandate as Minister and Chair of the UNWTO Commission for Africa to pitch my candidature.

I have a dual theme, “It’s Time for Africa” and “Africa’s man for the World”.

The first aspect speaks to our plea for fairness and equity, whilst the second deals with my own craft competence for the post.

The campaign is arguably one of the most followed issues in global tourism today.

The Walter Mzembi brand is synonymous with Zimbabwe and vice versa (so there are) intangible benefits that come with brand recognition arising from elective processes.

I will use two analogies: Barack Obama and his Kenyan descendants and how every Kenyan proudly associates with this brand name, the President of the United States.

There is also Koffi Annan during his time as UN Secretary General and how every Ghanaian claimed relations of one shade or another with him.

In both instances, the deployments raised the brand profile and equity of Kenya, Ghana and Africa.

So shall it be with me, Zimbabwe and Africa in the UN system.

Many people take stock of tangible benefits, placing the self at the centre to say, “How much did I make out of this event?”

We count intangible benefits, the image and reputation of the country to the extent that the brand has never been the same after (the 20th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia).

Prior to this, Zimbabwe — gliding through sanctions slapped by the European Union until November 2014 when revocation of Article 96 was enacted, combined with Zidera by the US — was not the world’s most favoured host of the UNWTO General Assembly.

You don’t want to imagine the disdain I met when I first proposed Zimbabwe as a host!

It reminded me of John 1: 46, “And Nathaniel said to him, ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’”

Phillip said to him, “Come and see.”

It was unimaginable that the Messiah could come from Nazareth.

The world came to Victoria Falls in 2013 and saw for itself, and its sentiment is best captured by the remarks of the incumbent Secretary General, Dr Talib Rifai.

Dr Rifai had this to say, “This has been the best attended General Assembly in the history of General Assemblies.”

After this, we have never looked back.

September 2014 saw Zimbabwe being awarded the World Best Destination Status by the Bucharest-based European Council on Tourism and Trade.

The New York Times included us in its 2015 Annual “52 Global Must Visit Destinations” Report, with the citation, “Once avoided, now a must see”.

Those who were looking for tangible benefits and probably did some invoicing of some of the activities of the event have since forgotten about it and yet intangibly, the world still remembers it.

The country’s tourism has grown in leaps and bounds to the extent where it is acknowledged not just as an economic pillar, but one that now leads in projected sectoral growth at 4,1 percent for the year 2015-2016, according to the Minister of Finance’s 2015 National Budget statement.

Turning adversity into opportunity

Zimbabwe had a negative brand name recognition when I assumed office in 2009.

I immediately realised that there was not a single person who did not know Zimbabwe out there.

So, I sought, in the first instance, to place a new Zimbabwe in the mindset of the international community through re-engagement and getting the country readmitted into the canons of global tourism.

I realised at that stage that it was possible to leverage tourism as a peace sector and a tool for citizen or public diplomacy.

I also learnt that in the majority of cases, ordinary citizens have absolutely no clue on fallouts between State administrations.

Therefore, tourism would be the bridge for people-to-people diplomacy that nation States should never collapse.

On the back of this philosophy, all my engagement with international source markets had a political message and plea to State administrations on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe and in the process, negotiating away negative travel advisories.

By July 2009 — five months after my deployment — the world had bought this message and granted Zimbabwe a clean bill of travel health.

Immediately after that, I took a rebranded Zimbabwe into UNWTO leadership, starting with our election to the executive council in September 2009 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

We remained in there until 2013 when I changed course for the country and lobbied for the Commission for Africa Chairmanship that we hold up to this very day.

So, we have been in global agenda-setting for tourism since.

The Africa Travel Association — recently acquired by the Washington-based Corporate Council for Africa in its new structure — has proposed a Council of Ministers which they have asked me to chair. This would be a record fourth time that I am president of the association.

In summary, I have conquered the Nazareth factor on behalf of my country, and now is the time to do it for Africa!

BY DR. PETER TARLOW

The month of July has not been an easy month in the world, and especially in the world of tourism. Until recently, tourism oriented nations experienced one or another form of crisis on a tri or bi-monthly or monthly basis. During the last few weeks, the crisis du mois seems to have become the crisis de la semaine (the crisis of the week).

During the last few weeks, the Middle East, especially Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and the Asian sub-continent have witnessed an upsurge of violence. Attacks have not only been against tourist hotels but also against restaurants, in such diverse places as Dacca, Bangladesh and Bagdad Iraq. In both cased patrons were attacked and tourists (or foreigners), taken hostage and murdered. Last month terrorists began to shoot restaurant patrons in Tel Aviv, Israel, and only the quick action of the other patrons stopped the attack from being worse.

Also during this first half July tourism officials are still dealing with the disappearance of the Air Egypt plane over the Mediterranean Sea. In the United States the tragic killing of two African-American men provoked street manifestations around the nation and the murder of police officers in both Texas and Tennessee. Europe continues to deal with a continental-wide crime wave and the latest terrorist attack in Nice, France.

The Nice attack occurred in southern France’s most important tourism city on Bastille Day and the start of the summer tourism season.

In Turkey there was a failed coup d’état with hundreds either dying or injured. To add to the tourism industry’s challenges there is Brazil where the Summer Olympics Games are to be held in the midst of a major crime wave coupled with an economic and political crisis, and where the possibility of a police strike during the 2016 Olympics plus a series of medical issues threatens the Olympic Games’ success.

Visitors will be ”treated” with seeing some 85,000 soldiers on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. South America must also deal with Venezuela as that country continues its downhill slide into both hunger and political turmoil and with the aftermath of Ecuador’s earthquakes. To round out the month’s first fortnight, in the USA both major political parties are holding their well televised national conventions with thousands of protestors promising violence.

A Word of Caution

Terrorism, a phenomenon that has existed in various forms for over 400 years, is a highly complex topic. It is so complex that there is a whole scholarly literature dedicated to understanding it and its impact on both tourism and world economies. This short article does not provide an extensive analysis of the topic but rather seeks to raise important questions for contemplation by those in the tourism industry.

Furthermore, despite the public’s desire for total travel and tourism security and safety, no one can guarantee a pain-free and totally secure travel experience. Even the best experts cannot predict every act of terror and no one can control a free media. Especially in an age or terrorism risk is not only part of the travel and tourism experience, risk it is also a part of life.

The following article then does not provide a recipe for travel and tourism safety for anyone particular part of the industry. It is strongly recommended that tourism experts consult on a continuous basis with travel security experts before implementing any policy decisions. To do less is to place the traveling public in undue risk.

Dealing with an Age of Violence

The Tourism Industry, if it is to survive in an ever changing and more challenging world will need to consider various paradigm shifts. Among these shifts are the following:

-The tourism industry needs to come to the sad but true realization that it is not merely collateral damage within the world of terrorism, but rather that tourism is one of terrorism’s principal targets. Tourism stands for everything that threatens terrorists. Tourism is about open societies in which we judge each person on his or her merits. Terrorism is just a modern form of Nazism, where people are judged not by who they are but to which social, national, or religious group they belong.

-The tourism industry will have to find a way to creatively protect its customers, without creating so many travel difficulties that travel becomes unbearable. Currently tourism safety and security are more about “security-theater” than about real security. Airport security is often reactive and haphazard at best. All too often those working in it are often poorly trained and paid resulting in personnel whose actions are all too often unprofessional.

-Tourism education will need to include courses on tourism safety and security. These courses are rarely taught. Once again, universities are not keeping pace with a changing world. This lack of cutting edge thought combined with political correctness means that future leaders in tourism will not be prepared to deal with a changing world.

-The tourism industry needs to become much more knowledgeable about terrorism and violence. The media and politicians from all sides of the spectrum continue to use misleading words such as “lone wolf” or “lone wolf attacks”. These terms are not only misleading, but also often dangerous and misleading. The use of a false narrative creates either a sense of ennui, despair, or “mis-actions”. Tourism officials need to get beyond political correctness and as the Egyptian government has done, actually identify culprits and then begin to face ideological warfare.

-Tourism officials must learn to coordinate their marketing strategies with their security experts. Most tourism centers have a great deal of demographic information. Yet often various tourism departments fail to share information with each other. Just as security professionals must realize that their actions impact the way that tourism is marketed and thrives, so too must marketing experts come to realize that they must coordinate their campaigns with their tourism security experts. To make matters worse, too many tourism entities lack a tourism safety and security manager or department.
· Tourism security experts must realize that no two tourism entities are the same and that tourism needs individualized security tailored to a particular locale rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. This realization means that security experts need to take into account such variables as: language spoken by visitors at specific locales, visitors’ age ranges, and visitors’ special physical needs. Because the list of variables is almost infinite, the best forms of risk management need to be employed so as to gain the most protection from available resources.

-Tourism marketers will have to come to the realization that these problems cannot be covered over. No matter how much money the tourism industry spends are feel-good marketing, it cannot market away terrorists’ threats to the industry. Currently marketers dominate the tourism industry. Marketers tend to find lots of money for advertising but never seem to have the funds to promote security. The tourism industry says it is interested in protecting its clients, but rarely are words turned into action. Instead, a great deal of caring is expressed during a crisis and then once the crisis passes the industry returns to business as usual.

-Tourism officials need to know when to discourage tourism. Although it is almost impossible to predict a specific terrorist attack, such as that which occurred in Nice, France, other manifestations are predictable. The absolute best protection is not to be at that locale. This statement does not mean that we should not travel. As noted above merely living is a form of risk-taking. It does mean that certain geographic sections of the world have specific risks and that tourism officials must be aware of those risks, explain the risks honestly, take measure to mitigate the risks and have a recovery plans in place should the risk occur.

-The tourism industry needs to have real recovery plans in place. This means that medical plans need to be coordinated prior to a terrorist attack and not as an after-thought. For example, if your community has a manor stadium or other areas with large crowds, be sure that there is both an evacuation plan and a triage plan put in place. Practice these plans and know what are their weaknesses. Make sure that there is a communication plan in place and a way to get needed cash or lines of additional credit for visiting victims.

These are only a few of the generalities that tourism leaders will need to consider now and into the future. Terrorism and acts of criminality and violence cannot be solved with nothing more than innovative marketing. These social cancers must be faced, diagnoses and defeated. If a modicum of certainty we can predict that locations such as Europe and parts of the Middle East will see higher levels of terrorism. The United States has numerous explosive situations throughout the country. These social sores can ignite in a form of societal spontaneous combustion. Latin America lives on the verge of crime, terror and corruption.

These are real problems that deserve the attention of all who care about the world’s largest peacetime industry.

If the tourism industry chooses to face these issues head-on then it shall become a major force for peace in the world, but if it chooses a form of marketing-ostracism than it may expect further bloodshed and negative headlines. The choice is up to us.

Following the earlier endorsement by SADC, the Southern African Development Community, of Dr. Engineer Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe’s Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Industry, has now RETOSA, the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa also thrown its support behind Dr. Walter’s candidacy to succeed Dr. Taleb Rifai as Secretary General of the UNWTO, when he retires at the end of next year.

Rarely has a campaign for the Secretary Generalship of UNWTO started this early and with such vehemence, wrong footing any other potential candidates even though it is still a long way to the formal election at next year’s UNWTO General Assembly in Beijing.

The next step in the campaign will now no doubt be the next summit of the African Union, which is taking place later this month in Kigali / Rwanda and neither Dr. Walter nor the Zimbabwean government will let this opportunity pass without tying up AU support and getting an endorsement for him.
Other potential candidates from Africa are now more and more unlikely to throw their hat into the ring, especially should the African Union name Dr. Walter as their choice candidate, and as the UNWTO never before had a Secretary General from Africa, this will – despite the expected opposition by certain Western countries against a Zimbabwean candidate – literally be the key to the World Tourism pinnacle.

Information received from RETOSA’s 07th Ministerial meeting earlier in the week in Botswana’s capital Gaborone clearly shows the organization’s support. With Ministers present from host country Botswana but also from Angola, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe were the other member countries of RETOSA represented by high ranking officials including Permanent / Principal Secretaries, Directors of Tourism and top tourism board representatives.

The Board Meeting of RETOSA is taking place as this article is filed and expected to further discuss on the sidelines what added support Dr. Walter can expect to bolster his candidacy.

Information received includes excerpts of minutes of the ministerial meeting and the relevant items read as follows:

Start quote:
Ministers noted the candidature of Hon. Dr. Engineer Walter Mzembi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry for the Republic of Zimbabwe, for election as the next Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Ministers resolved to support the candidature of Eng. Dr Walter Mzembi, as well as undertake lobbying amongst states outside of the SADC region.

In his response to the endorsement of his nomination, Hon. Dr. Mzembi expressed appreciation to all the SADC Member States for the unparalleled support for his candidature, and undertook to work hard to take the tourism industry at the global and regional level to new heights, building onto the legacy of the current Secretary General of the UNWTO.
Ministers accepted [the invitation] by Zimbabwe for the next meeting of Ministers responsible for Tourism to be held in Zimbabwe in 2017.

End quote
Two added factors will play into the hands of Dr. Walter’s candidacy no doubt, one being the presence of the Caribbean Tourism Organization at the RETOSA meeting, taking home the message of an African candidate for the top job at UNWTO and secondly, and perhaps more important, a recent masterstroke of Zimbabwe, announced during the SANGANAI 2016 tourism trade show in Bulawayo.

It was there that Zimbabwe formally joined PATA, the Pacific Asia Travel Association, as full member, the first outside the original PATA geographical region and notably the first such member from Africa, beating more fancied candidates for such membership like South Africa, Kenya or even Rwanda to the finishing line.
PATA will no doubt now have to consider backing a credible and suitable candidate for the UNWTO Secretary General’s job from within its own organization and should Dr. Walter also get endorsed from that part of the world could his election in Beijing next year almost be a shoe in.
Watch this space for breaking and regular news updates from the tourism scene in the wider Eastern African and Indian Ocean island region.

International travel and tourism industry issues, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) was on the agenda when His Excellency, Mr Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of the Republic of Togo met with the Hon Minister of Tourism Walter Mzembi from Zimbabwe on Friday.

The Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Hon Dr Walter Mzembi, who is the Zimbabwe and SADC-endorsed candidate for the post of UNWTO Secretary General that falls vacant in 2017, met with the Togolese Head of State, yesterday morning in the Presidential Palace in the Togolese capital, Lome.

Hon Mzembi, was accompanied to the meeting by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Ambassador Stuart Comberbach, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Chief Executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke and a senior Ministry official.

The visit to Togo comes as Minister Mzembi steps up his campaign to secure the top UNWTO post, and in the wake of his participation at a number of statutory UNWTO Regional Commissions where, as Chairperson of the Commission for Africa, he has been able to share ideas and experiences and to contribute towards the development of effective strategies designed to position tourism as a key vehicle and enabler of global sustainable tourism development.

In his discussions with the Togolese Head of State, Minister Mzembi first of all conveyed President Robert Mugabe’s gratitude to his Togolese counterpart for gracing and officiating at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in April 2016. He then reiterated the determination expressed by President Mugabe to explore ways in which the two countries could cooperate and to learn and benefit from one another’s experience. The Minister stressed Zimbabwe’s readiness to work with Togo in the areas of tourism development, product development and building on previous discussions, on assisting Togo in the establishment of protected conservation areas.

The Minister stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of such cooperation noting that Zimbabwe had been seriously affected by the El Nino-induced drought which had already caused significant loss of wildlife across the country. As a way of mitigating such losses and as a key component of the envisaged cooperation with Togo and with indeed other African countries, Zimbabwe was actively considering a programme of translocating live game animals into protected conservation areas beyond its borders.

The Minister confirmed the readiness of his counterpart, the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, to dispatch a team of experts to Togo to familiarize themselves with the local habitat and to make an informed assessment with regard to the feasibility of wildlife translocation to designated conservation areas in the West African state. The team would also be able to advise on the possibility of replicating, within the region, the concept of multinational conservation parks such as the KAZA Transfrontier Park involving Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Minister informed the President that his leadership qualities within UNWTO had been tried and tested by way of his chairmanship of the Regional Commission for Africa (CAF) from 2013 to 2015, noting that the Commission had unanimously renewed his mandate for another two-year term during the last UNWTO General Assembly held in Medellin, Colombia.
In his response, President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé said Minister Mzembi was clearly qualified for the job, and committed himself to supporting the candidature and to working to ensure additional support within the ECOWAS region.

The President emphasized the need for the African Union to reach consensus on the candidature and to unite in support of a single African candidate.

The meeting concluded with the President requesting the Minister to meet a team of officials from the Togolese Environment Ministry to work out a concrete plan of action with regard to an exchange of visits in order to implement the program of cooperation.

Later the same day, the Minister met with the Togolese Minister of Environment and Forests who was accompanied by the Commander of the Togolese Armed Forces, and agreed that, within the next two weeks, a team of experts from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate would be dispatched to Togo in order to carry out an assessment of the local habitat and climatic conditions and to make recommendations on what species of wildlife would be suited for translocation from Zimbabwe to protected conservation areas in Togo.

Thereafter, it was agreed that a team of experts from Togo would be invited to Zimbabwe for further training in all relevant aspects of conservation and wildlife management at Mushandike Wildlife Park – including capacity building in conservation management, law enforcement and natural resource monitoring.

During the meeting, Minister Mzembi appealed to the Togolese Minister of Environment and Forests to support Zimbabwe’s proposal for sale of its ivory stock pile, to be tabled for consideration during the forthcoming CITES meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Togolese Minister assured the Minister of his support and said that he would raise the issue directly with the Togolese Head of State within the coming days.

It is imperative to highlight that the highly respected Minister, has the requisite international statesmanship and qualities to lead the UNWTO as a suitable electable leader. In his previous conversations, he has maintained that “if I was responding to a routine job vacancy, I would confidently say I am most qualified on my own merit however this is an elective position with geopolitical considerations, therefore endorsements are key. I must hasten to say, this is not a competition for a job but a deployment, and the endorsements that I am seeking speaks to answering geopolitical aspirations, Africa in the first instance and what global tourism we want to see going forward. However, akin to all electoral competitions, whatever candidature emerges, should consider Zimbabwe, SADC and hopefully Africa’s candidate a serious proposition”.

Generally, there is a very positive acceptance of Dr Mzembi’s statecraft and bureaucratic competence for Secretary General of the UNWTO post. As an elective international civil servant position, which requires competent skills, it ordinarily involves a lot of interests, and Minister Mzembi has been around long enough to know where to take the organization in fulfilling members’ aspirations and expectations. The pedigree of his candidature goes beyond just advocacy, marketing and promotion of global tourism to a real international deal broking and statesmanship, which are the hallmarks needed to confront contemporary challenges that the tourism sector is facing. He, is a man that the world can trust, a man who can lead the organization in the direction of sustainable transformative growth and development.

Earlier Minister Mzembi delivered a personal letter from the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe to the Togolese Head of State.

His Excellency Walter Mzembi is the minister of tourism for Zimbabwe and has ambition to become the next Secretary General for the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)