The Republic of Zimbabwe aims to establish tourism twinning programmes with Sabah and Malaysia in general that can bring benefits especially in terms of boosting the tourism sectors of both countries.
Tsitsi Kangai-Kasirowori, a counsellor at the Zimbabwean Embassy in Malaysia, said that Zimbabwe and Malaysia have many areas in common, particularly in terms of environment and handicraft, which might be explored for tourism twinning projects.
According to her, one of the projects that may be explored is a scheme for twinning tourist attractions, in which a tourist attraction in her nation and Malaysia can collaborate with tourism operators from both countries to attract tourists.
"The places and nature here (Sabah and Malaysia) are really beautiful, I can see similarities which we can do cooperation programmes. Hope we have a twinning programme with Sabah like Victoria Falls (in Zimbabwe) we can twin it with a tourist attraction in Sabah.
“We try to get to new markets as we try to rebuild and restrategise our tourism industry in 2023 post COVID-19 pandemic that has affected us all,” she told Bernama when met at the Matta Fair Sabah 2023 here recently.
Speaking of the country's tourism attractions, Kangai-Kasirowori noted that visitors must see the Victoria Falls, a stunning cascade that is 1.7 km wide and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as its many national parks.
“Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, really beautifull and tourists can do a lot of activities including skydiving and bungee jumping. There are also national parks near the waterfall where people can go on safaris there,” she said.
The Shona people constructed the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe between the 11th and the 15th centuries. The city is renowned for its impressive stone architecture, which includes a sizeable palace, and its significance in the African trade. Additionally, Kangai-Kasirowori claims that the building there was constructed without the use of cement.
The writer also had the opportunity to discuss with the interviewer one of Sabah's natural tourist attractions, the stunning Maliau Waterfall, which has seven waterfall tiers and is situated in Tongod's Maliau Basin, a 58,840-hectare conservation area known as Sabah's Lost World because of its pristine environment.
According to Kangai-Kasirowori, 1.04 million tourists visited Zimbabwe last year, up 174 per cent from 380,820 tourists in 2021.
She said 47,453 tourist arrivals last year were from Asia, while tourists from other African countries are the biggest arrivals at 693,281; Europe (174,544); Americas (100,112); Oceania (21,798); and Middle East (6,593).
“The Asian market is one of our main targets and we also target young tourists. There is a lot of interest to travel to Zimbabwe, and we see Sabahans have a lot of enthusiasm about our country,” she said.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency