By Wallace Mawire
Zimbabwe’s minister of transport and infrastructural development,
Joram Gumbo has been tasked by the new government to urgently revamp
Air Zimbabwe to ensure that it plays its key role as a national flag
carrier in facilitating the movement of tourists both locally and
internationally.
Constantino Chiwenga, Zimbabwe’s Vice President told delegates at a
national tourism sector strategy validation workshop held by the
ministry of Tourism and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) in Harare
that the minister of transport was tasked to carry out the mandate
within the 100 days period for economic turn-around initiatives from
1 January, 2018.
According to Chiwenga, efforts are underway to acquire new state of
the art equipment to improve aircraft and baggage handling at the
National Handling Services (NHS) to make tourists’ experiences more
memorable.
“To boost tourist arrivals, it is critical for government and
private sector to collaborate in developing air access infrastructure
at tourist attractions such as the Eastern Highlands, Great Zimbabwe,
the Lowveld and Mapungubwe,” Chiwenga said.
He also added that plans are underway to develop new airports in
Mutare and Beitbridge as well as refurbishments at Robert Mugabe
international airport, Kariba and Buffalo Range airports.
