A new national tourism marketing strategy has been approved by stakeholders in Zimbabwe's tourism industry and is set for its national launch next month, New Ziana reported on Monday.

The state news agency said the strategy is an all-stakeholder- encompassing initiative to collectively and aggressively market the country as a prime tourist destination in the wake of renewed interest in the sector by new and traditional markets.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive Karikoga Kaseke said marketing of the country was not the sole responsibility of the authority.

"The marketing strategy has been finalized, the industry and the National Economic Development Priority Program taskforce on tourism have approved it and it will be launched in December," he said.

The strategy, he said, outlines the roles that every stakeholder can play to effectively market the country and includes ways on how the country can effectively penetrate traditional and new markets as well as boost domestic tourism.

Statistics released by the authority for the first nine months of the year show a 45 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting the country.

At least 1.6 million tourists visited the country between January and September.

The recovery signs, it was noted, should be fully exploited and should see the industry working closely to boost arrivals,.

The ZTA has, however, said it will concentrate on markets that add value and raise revenue levels for the industry.

Kaseke said the country's economic turnaround bid would not be successful if tourism failed to play its critical role.

The tourism sector has been among the worst affected by international media criticism of the country's land reform program the government embarked on in 2000.

The number of tourists visiting the country for the past five years has been on a steady decline as Zimbabwe was labeled an unsafe tourist destination.

With the adoption of the "Look East" policy and granting of Approved Destination Status by China, arrivals from Asia have picked up.

Source: Xinhua