The tourism industry has been targeted as one of the “quick wins” industry as it offers investors timely returns on their investment for it is one of the industries that has witnessed a very rapid turnaround in fortunes yet still remains full of opportunities.
The organisation tasked with marketing the industry, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), has for the past two years been working on an ingenious US$ 4 million product called Zimbabwe Tourism Gateway, an online platform that will provide services for the tourism industry and relevant stakeholders leaving the players in the industry with a competitive edge over their regional counterparts.
Based on three strategic foundations the platform was designed in the wake of a nation ostracized by the international media leading to a bad image yet the facts on the ground reflect a country abound with an amazing array of tourist resorts and sites.
The first part of these three areas is the Geographical Information System (GIS), which is customized system for Zimbabwe which provides mapping software and applications much like Google Maps yet this product is specifically designed for the foreign or domestic tourist keen to discover and explore “A world of Wonders”.
ZTA offices currently have limited stock of the Geographical Positioning System (GPS) devices in their shop but more are set to come. The GPS device which is being sold for US$200 comes loaded with the major tourist resorts and sites making travel within Zimbabwe a breeze for a tourist.
ZTA has enlisted the help of CST Advisory Limited which is a Zimbabwean owned e-commerce and ICT company based in the United Kingdom (UK) as the project managers. Chris Maramba, Onsite Project Manager, of CST said they are currently running a pilot project for the second area which is Tourism Mobile Gateway with Net One.
“Currently only Net One are offering this service with the two other mobile operators set to join some time soon. With this product you can get tourism information on the go. Net One users simply have to dial *120*8# and a menu with the relevant information appears,” said Mr Maramba.
The good thing about the Tourism Mobile Gateway is any phone can be sued to access the information because of Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) which comes with any mobile phone.
Currently the service is getting on average 1000 hits a day meaning it is a revenue generating product on the part of the mobile service provider and with the two operators left on their way onboard Zimbabwean tourism information will be literally on the people’s fingertips.
“Zimbabwe is the currently the only country within the region that will be offering this product because of where we are coming from. Other countries don’t see the need for such measures of attracting tourists because they haven’t been segregated like we have been,” said Mr Maramba.
ZTA’s System Administrator within the Market Research and Product Development department, Mr Kawisa Maseka, said the third area being the Tourism Mobile Kiosk will be available at the Harare International Airport by the end of next week will see visitors getting information on Victoria Falls on the kiosk.
“We will be putting the Tourism Mobile Kiosk booth at the airport but the booth will only have comprehensive information on Victoria Falls while we are working on the other resorts. We want to place these booths with information on resorts’ accommodation, places to eat, service providers, entertainment and so on,” said Mr Maseka.
He said the authority’s aim is to put these booths at airports, streets, Zimbabwe’s embassies abroad, ZTA attaché among other strategic places so that a tourist can be able to view what Zimbabwe has to offer at the touch of a button.
“These kiosks will be enabled to provide information to potential tourists in the language they understand. This kiosk will provide the tour operator with various opportunities that include brand visibility, advertising and revenue as tourists will be able to book and pay right there,” said Mr Kawisa.
Mr Maramba added that they are currently in negotiations with various banks to provide Bank Identification Number (BIN) for Point of Sale (POS) terminals for the Tourism Prepaid Zimswitch card.
“There will also be Tourism Prepaid Master card whose program provider will Prepaid Financial Services of the UK and the Tourism Prepaid Visa Card by GTP Limited of the United States of America. We are also in negotiations with various strategic partners to set up the Tourism Virtual Private Network which will see all tourism operators being linked with ZTA where they can access all other facilities,” said Mr Maramba.
He said the Zimbabwe Tourism Gateway was a ZTA initiative which they have funded from their own coffers but they are also working with strategic partners within the ICT industry.
“One of the biggest venture within the whole platform is the National Call Centre which will allow for any query to be attended to as well as the National Booking Portal which are all modules under Zimbabwe Tourism Gateway making them integrated so they can provide one seamless solution to the tourism operator,” said Mr Maramba.
ZTA’s initiative reflects on the undeniable power of ICTs in our daily lives, a noble initiative that should see the authority applauded for acknowledging the role ICTs are currently playing and the role they will play in the future. Zimbabwe is too much of gem that cannot afford to be enjoyed by the locals and foreign tourists who should be flocking to this majestic nation.
An initiative driven by Zimbabweans, developed by Zimbabweans and Built by Zimbabweans should see us going forward and not backward which yet again proves that Zimbabweans can be leaders in the ICT field.
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