By Aldridge Dzvene
ATLANTA, United States – Zimbabwe’s drive to position tourism as a key pillar of economic growth gathered fresh momentum in the United States, where growing interest in investing in the country’s tourism sector dominated discussions at the Zimbabwe Diaspora Tourism Investment Forum held in Atlanta, Georgia.
The forum brought together members of the Zimbabwean Diaspora to explore investment opportunities across the tourism value chain, reflecting increasing confidence in the Second Republic’s economic reform agenda and its Vision 2030 ambition of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy.
Officially opening the forum, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Hon Barbara Rwodzi, said the engagement forms part of Government’s broader strategy to strengthen Diaspora participation in national development and accelerate tourism-led economic transformation under the National Development Strategy 2, covering the period 2026 to 2030.
The event attracted significant interest from Zimbabweans living in Atlanta, many of whom expressed their willingness to invest back home while seeking greater clarity on opportunities available across the country’s expanding tourism industry. The strong response reflects the growing recognition of tourism as one of Zimbabwe’s fastest-growing sectors and an attractive destination for both local and international investment.
Welcoming delegates, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency David Hamadziripi, commended Minister Rwodzi for raising Destination Zimbabwe’s international profile through sustained tourism promotion campaigns, which continue to strengthen the country’s visibility in global tourism markets.
Delivering the keynote address, Minister Rwodzi reaffirmed Government’s commitment to continuous engagement with Zimbabweans living abroad through President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s Engagement and Re-engagement Foreign Policy. She said the policy, anchored on soft diplomacy and the principle that “Zimbabwe is a Friend to All and an Enemy to None”, continues to unlock new opportunities for trade, investment and international cooperation.
The Minister said Government’s development agenda, guided by Vision 2030, Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, is founded on inclusive economic growth through devolution, rural industrialisation and the commitment to leave no one and no place behind. She described the Zimbabwean Diaspora as a strategic development partner whose financial resources, skills and networks remain critical to national economic transformation.
Minister Rwodzi applauded Zimbabweans living in the United States for their contribution to the country’s economy, noting that the US-based Diaspora accounts for approximately 12 percent of Zimbabwe’s total remittance inflows. She said while remittances have played an important role in supporting household incomes and economic resilience, greater impact could be realised if more of those financial resources were channelled into productive investments.
She challenged Zimbabweans abroad to move beyond remittances and invest directly in tourism enterprises, describing the sector as one of the country’s most accessible and high-impact investment opportunities under the Zimbabwe is Open for Business policy.
The Minister highlighted a wide range of opportunities in accommodation facilities, conference tourism, rural tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, gastronomy tourism, renewable energy, waste management and community-based tourism. She said these opportunities are being supported by improved air connectivity, enabling infrastructure and the Ministry’s Tourism Cluster Strategy, which seeks to increase investment, employment creation and foreign currency earnings.
The investment case was further strengthened through presentations by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the Mosi-Oa-Tunya Development Company and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, all of which outlined incentives, financing mechanisms and emerging opportunities across Zimbabwe’s tourism value chain.
The strong investor interest generated during the Atlanta forum demonstrates the growing confidence of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora in the country’s economic prospects. It also reinforces Government’s strategy of leveraging the Diaspora not only as a source of remittances but as long-term investors capable of driving tourism growth, creating employment and contributing to the attainment of Vision 2030.
