By Isdore Guvamombe

ZIMBABWE has won the Africa investor Upcoming African Tourism Destination of the year award while two of its companies African Sun and Native Investments have also scooped first prizes at the Africa investor Pan African Tourism Investment awards ceremony held on Tuesday.

Businessman Phillip Chiyangwa’s Native Investments won the Ai Best Hotel Investment of the Year Award, while Shingi Munyeza’s African Sun won the Ai Best Hospitality Management Team of the Year Award.

The main award was presented to Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi by Ai director Mr Herbert Danso at a colourful ceremony attended by Vice President Joice Mujuru, Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, Government ministers, captains of industry and tourism stakeholders in Harare on Tuesday night.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Vice President Mujuru said Zimbabwe was quickly coming out of its economic crisis and that the tourism industry was a key driver in economic recovery.

"We are a beautiful country, with beautiful and welcoming people and we are proud to have hosted the Ai Pan African Investment Conference,’’ said VP Mujuru.

Minister Mzembi said the awards were a result of Zimbabwe’s efforts in trying to turn around its economy through tourism.

"This is in recognition of the hard work our tourism sector has done as one of the pillars of the country’s economic turnaround programme.

"We are proud of our achievements as a nation,’’ he said.

The latest awards come hardly a month after Zimbabwe won an international excellence award, the Golden Award for Tourism Hotel and Catering Industry, New Millennium, for its tourism marketing development and promotion efforts.

Zimbabwe scooped the 35th edition of the award after exhibiting in Madrid, Spain.

A week earlier, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke had been elected first vice president of the newly formed Africa Tourism Promotion Initiative.

The Ai tourism investment awards were created four years ago to showcase Africa’s opportunities and achievements in the tourism sector to the global investment community and this is the first time that Zimbabwe has won an award.

"These awards are the only initiative designed to recognise the achievement of those businesses, governments, organisations and individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the growth of sustainable tourism investment in Africa," said Professor Geofrey Lipman, special advisor to the secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

The awards presentation coincided with the Africa Investor Pan African Tourism Investment Summit which ended in Harare yesterday.

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