Unpacking Zimbabwe's 2034 World Cup bid

From 2005 when I launched this column - Tourism Matrix - I have been in the thick of things in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Prior to launching the column, I had been writing mere tourism stories, period. Since then I have been in the cockpit of the industry and have made many friends and enemies, critics and supporters, alike. By this instalment, I am about to make a coterie of more of the above.

I have worked with many characters in the tourism and hospitality industry but there are two outstanding figures: Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke.

This tag team, Minister Mzembi giving policy direction and Mr Kaseke implementing policy, has delivered results to Zimbabwe, whether you like it or not.

When Mzembi came in as Minister of Tourism from the Ministry of Water where he was Deputy Minister, Zimbabwe was under European and American travel bans and warnings, Zimbabwe was under sanctions and had been suspended from the world tourism family, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, for failing to pay its dues. In short Zimbabwe was out of sync with the world tourism family.

In Mr Kaseke, Minister Mzembi found a highly combative and workhorse lieutenant, raring to go to any place in the world and soon things started happening.

One by one, the countries found themselves dropping the travel warnings and bans.

In one of my interactions with Minister Mzembi, he told me he had a vision to get Zimbabwe into the Politburo of the UNWTO, the executive council and I never gave him a chance.

Many people did not give him the chance, too.

He was day dreaming and highly ambitious to try to take a country under a cocktail of sanctions, travel warnings and travel bans into the UNWTO's highest decision making body.

A few months later, he was voted into the executive council and things started happening.

He told me about his intention to host UNWTO General Assembly, again another highly ambitious project and people, including captains of industry and his colleagues in Government did not give him a chance. It was a bad dream, they said.

Minister Mzembi was soon to send his trusted lieutenant Mr Kaseke to Madrid, Spain the UNWTO headquarters to negotiate and convince the world that Zimbabwe, could in fact, host the world tourism family's biggest tourism event, the UNWTO general assembly, an equivalent to the World Cup of football.

The bid was won and eventually sealed in South Korea. I was part of the bidding team.

Did we not successfully host the UNWTO general assembly?

Zimbabwe won against the bid ahead of filthy rich, Jordan, Qatar and Russia even though it was under sanctions, reeling under economic hardships coupled with its battered international image.

The only other African country to host the mega event was Senegal in 2007.

That is Minister Mzembi for us.

One late afternoon, while in his office, he told me of his vision to host Brazil during its preparatory training for South Africa World Cup 2010.

I broke the story and I became laughing stock. Brazil? He was day dreaming, they said. A few days later, he visited Brazil with Mr Kaseke and started working on his plan.

Mozambique, which had a Portuguese language advantage and a sea coastline, lost the bid to Zimbabwe.

Did we not fill the National Sports Stadium to capacity?

I broke the story of Mzembi's World Cup 2034 vision or dream, depending on where you stand, the doubting Thomases are still there.

Political instability in North, West, Central and East Africa only leaves Southern Africa as  the safest place to host the World Cup when the chance comes and who else in Southern Africa than ourselves can do it?

Watch the space!

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