Hospitability sector urged to focus more on MICE tourism
Hosia Mviringi
The tourism and hospitality sector in Zimbabwe has been urged to pay more attention to promoting Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition Tourism (MICE).
Speaking at the 2022 edition of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe Annual Congress which kicked off in Victoria Falls two days ago, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) Chief Executive Officer Winnie Muchanyuka encouraged the hospitality industry players to keep a close working relationship with the ZTA and government departments and agencies.
“I would like to encourage the hospitality industry to continue working closely with the ZTA and other government arms to formulate joint strategies to bid for more MICE business. We must find strategic ways to collaborate in our quest to promote Zimbabwe as a first choice MICE destination,” said Muchanyuka.
The ZTA boss added that there was need for the hospitality sector to also direct their focus on domestic MICE business as a way to balance the diversity of business.
“There is a lot of scope for us to create more MICE business locally. We just need to have a more collaborated approach as a sector. If you look at our statistics for this year, you will see that MICE contributed quite significantly to the general recovery if the sector,” she added.
The Congress comes as Zimbabwe recorded a massive 165 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals in 2022 as measured against the comparative period in 2021, representing refreshing potential for further gains going forward as the sector continues to recover from the debilitating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Muchanyuka took time to break down and explain the statistical data in relation to the contribution of MICE business to the hospitality sector in 2022.
“The first half of 2011 saw 5705 functions being hosted while 354553 participants attended the MICE events nationwide. Harare, Bulawayo, Vumba/Mutare regions dominated the events held, accounting for a combined 71 per cent of all events held.”
“Harare Province continues to dominate MICE business followed by Bulawayo and Mutare/Vumba. This is the higher concentration of hotels in the regions and therefore varied hosting capacities by hotels,” she added.
Tapping from the available data from hoteliers and facility owners, Muchanyuka revealed that most of the MICE business for the year was derived from the domestic market which mostly comprised of government departments and agencies, the corporate sector, and none-governmental organisations. This information is indicative of a resilient domestic market which needs more focus and attention to nurture it.
“MICE business continues to be the dominating force in generating room occupancies for hotels,” said Muchanyuka.
She urged the hospitality sector in the country to hid government’s call for the need to revamp the tourism sector through sustained and focused investments in Greenfield and brownfield tourism projects.
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