By Aldridge Dzvene
MASVINGO – Zimbabwe is repositioning tourism as a broader platform for investment, infrastructure development, employment and regional economic integration, with Government placing technology, heritage and private capital at the centre of the sector’s next phase.
The direction emerged at the official opening of the 19th Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe World Tourism Expo in Masvingo, where His Excellency Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President and First Secretary of ZANU PF, challenged the industry to embrace Artificial Intelligence, innovation and new tourism products.
The choice of Great Zimbabwe as the Expo venue gives that strategy a practical dimension. Rather than treating heritage as a standalone attraction, Government is seeking to connect it with culture, indigenous knowledge, cuisine, music and the creative industries, broadening Zimbabwe’s tourism proposition beyond its traditional concentration around Victoria Falls and wildlife.
ZANU PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Security, Cde Tendai Chirau, who toured exhibitions at the Expo, highlighted another emerging dimension, the growing interest of Zimbabweans in the diaspora in tourism investment.
That interest is significant because diaspora capital can bring more than financing. It can connect Zimbabwean tourism businesses to international markets, networks, expertise and new expectations around visitor experience.
Chirau described the renewed investment interest as a reflection of growing confidence in the long-term viability of Zimbabwe as a destination, while calling for development models that bring more communities into the tourism economy through community-based tourism.
This points to an important shift in how tourism growth can be measured.
The objective is not simply to increase visitor numbers, but to build an industry capable of attracting capital, creating businesses and retaining a larger share of tourism expenditure within communities.
The investment figures presented at the Expo indicate that this process is already gaining momentum. Tourism investment rose by 229 percent to US$132.3 million during the first half of 2026, from US$40.2 million during the comparable period in 2025.
Domestic tourism also increased from five million visitors in the first half of 2025 to 6.4 million.
The Creative Cultural Industries, which contributed 8.8 percent to GDP, provide another link in this expanding visitor economy, creating opportunities for musicians, artists, filmmakers, food producers, designers and cultural entrepreneurs.
Technology is expected to increasingly connect these opportunities.
Under the theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism”, Government is looking at Artificial Intelligence for visitor-flow management, demand forecasting, environmental monitoring and improving the convenience and safety of travel.
The larger opportunity is to build destination intelligence that helps authorities and investors understand where demand exists, what visitors want and where infrastructure or tourism products are missing.
Masvingo provides an important test of whether this broader model can work.
The province has Great Zimbabwe, Lake Mutirikwi, Tugwi-Mukosi, Manyuchi Dam and Gonarezhou, alongside liberation heritage and cultural initiatives such as the Budula Festival.
Connecting these assets could encourage longer stays and distribute economic activity across accommodation, transport, food, entertainment, conservation and local enterprises.
The development of the Gymkhana Events and Conference Centre into a modern tourism, business, events and conferencing facility adds another opportunity by positioning Masvingo to compete for business events and investment meetings.
Sanganai/Hlanganani itself creates a marketplace where those relationships can be formed. The real economic test, however, will be whether exhibitors, buyers and investors leave Masvingo with projects, contracts and partnerships that continue beyond the Expo.
That makes infrastructure and accessibility critical.
The upgrading of Masvingo Airport and the resumption of Air Zimbabwe services can strengthen the province’s investment proposition by making it easier for visitors, investors and business delegates to reach the destination.
Local authorities will equally have to provide the conditions required for private capital to move from interest to implementation, including serviced land, reliable utilities, efficient approvals, roads and digital connectivity.
Chirau’s emphasis on community-based tourism adds an important social dimension to this investment agenda. If tourism expansion is to support broader development, communities around major attractions must participate not only as employees, but increasingly as owners, producers and suppliers within the tourism value chain.
That could mean locally owned accommodation, cultural experiences, agricultural supply, crafts, transport services and community conservation enterprises.
The emerging model therefore combines three elements, investment to expand capacity, technology to improve competitiveness and community participation to widen the economic benefits.
Sustainability will remain critical, particularly around biodiversity, water, energy and climate resilience.
The real test will come after the Expo.
If the investment interest translates into projects, if diaspora participation develops into long-term capital, if new tourism products emerge and if communities capture more value from the country’s heritage and natural assets, Sanganai/Hlanganani will have achieved more than a successful annual exhibition.
It will have demonstrated how Zimbabwe can turn its tourism assets into a durable investment and development platform, with Masvingo providing one of the clearest tests of that ambition.
