Zimbabwe

Calling processes by clever names will not improve Zimbabwe Tourism, Mr Mzembi!

Taura Khuluma Say it!!, , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The right honorable Minister of Tourism in Zimbabwe thinks the solution to revitalising the tourism industry and re-establishing Zimbabwe’s presence in the international tourism market is “Tourism Engineering” Really? He goes on to define this process as follows “Tourism engineering takes a broad, long-term perspective, while focusing on details and identifying the potential that the country has,”

I wish we would stop inventing new names for a critical process that must be carried out urgently, it is simply a matter of asking ourselves three questions as far as Zimbabwe Tourism is concerned “Where are we positioned in minds of the customer as a tourist destination?, Where do we want to be positioned? and how do we get there?” I worked 5 years in Zimbabwean Tourism during its glory days of the late 90s, there was pride and excitement in working in the industry, we kept at pace with developments in customer service, marketing and promotion as well as our international competitors. We won recognition and awards from our peers but more importantly we had a recognisable brand.

Sadly today I personally feel we were left behind in the first part of the last decade. I have regularly attended international tourism  marketing events and the state of tourism marketing in Zimbabwe  at the these events gives a worrying insight into the state of the industry at home. There is no excitement and belief in the product they are selling. The stand itself is a reflection of a lack of ambition especially if presentation is considered against our immediate rivals and those further afield. Year on year we turn up at the World Travel Market (WTM) underprepared and without conviction of what we want to achieve. I personally feel the companies that attend do so out of formality, the tourism attache to the UK also contributeS to this sorry state of affairs by pretending that the market is excited by what she and the exhibitors are doing. Numbers don’t lie, show us the direct impact of participating at WTM  through an increase in tourist arrivals or future bookings.

The solutions is not Tourism Engineering RHM Mzembi, it is being honest about what needs to be done and putting together a strategy to do so, the tourism industry was one of the hardest hit in terms of  the post 2000 brain drain  that decimated Zimbabwe because we had transferrable skills to work anywhere in the world, we had the right training, enthusiasm and belief in our contribution to tourism which made us employeable around the world. So first off, what has been done to replace these skills, Mr Mzembi? Tourism training must take place, bring back exprienced practinioners into the planning process so they can contribute to the development of up to date training that equips those working on the tourism frontline with skills to serve today’s customer in facilities that meet the expectations of today’s customer. Invest in training, bring in exhiled tourism practitioners to foster a new belief and excitement in Zimbabwe Tourism

Secondly, do we really know how the market feels about Zimbabwe, Mr Mzembi? While we train tourism workers, let us go into the markets and ask the customers, agents, wholesalers et al., what do they think of when when they here about Zimbabwe and going there on holiday, what do they know about Zimbabwe? Do their perceptions match with what we would like our customers think about us? Only when we are able to answer these question will we be able to start marketing to the world because we will be able to bridge the gap between expectation and reality on both sides. We will be in a position to speak a language our market understands in formats that are accessible to all of them. Only then can we start to constructiely build a brand that represents us in the way we would like the market to feel about us because through expansive market research we would have collected information that help to bridge the gap between perception and reality. Regardless of how we feel internally about Zimbabwe, tourism thrives on the arrivals of tourist from foreign markets and it is how “THEY” feel about us that determines whether they come or not, which is why knowing their feelings, worries and expectations must form the base of all our tourism strategiec planning.

Lastly, some food for thought, “What is Zimbabwe’s brand image, how has it evolved and is it up to the time, today’s time?”

Here is the article that inspired my thoughts today –

Where is the money in 2012?

Taura Khuluma Say it!!, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Back again, this time with weekly updates as usual. Thanks to those that inspired me to stop being lazy and get writing

So, the whispers of a recession are getting louder in the media and Tesco’s announcement that they lost business over the festive period hasn’t been helpful at all. But Aldi and Lidl made profits!, surely not. Well, according to Kenneth it’s only Tesco that didn’t make money in December even Sainsbury’s made money. Why?, well it’s all about clarity of message to the customer, Sainsbury’s are not shy about their prices being a little higher than the rest, they justify it by suggesting that their food is of the highest quality and as such customer are comfortable paying more. Lidl and Aldi on the other hand are also very clear about their offer to customers, low prices and unfamiliar brands. So at these supermarkets there is no confusion for customers, they know exactly what they will get for their money and they problem for Tesco is simple. What do they stand for? Not price because Asda wins that hands down, not quality because Sainsbury’s wins that battle as well. To sum it all up for the first time many customers had no reason to go to Tesco, those with a little extra money went for better quality at Sainsbury’s while those with less money went for quantity at Aldi and Lidl.

Going back to the topic, where is the money in 2012?, I think it will all be about cash, those with cash and other moveable assets will make the most gains this year. Cash or liquidity will give entrepreneurs opportunities to react first and fast. Investing in immovable assets does nothing except tie up your cash and opportunities that come from being liquid. Houses are cheap for a reason at the moment, they are hard to dispose of when you need cash and the low prices are a sign of desperate people trying liquidate their assets.

Movable assets like cash are more useful in a recession because, as you all know, money is good anyway in the worlds so if the economy in the UK continues to shrink you can take your money elsewhere and grow it there. I am developing model for farming without the limitations of owning a farm based on this same understanding. If I can move my farming technology or machinery at a moment’s notice I can get away from drought regions to where the rain is every season. Obviously having movable farming infrastructure will need ready cash and farms available to rent, which shouldn’t be a problem based on observations from my last visit to Zimbabwe. Land redistribution gave farms to people with cash problems, the can’t farm with no cash, Windmill is only selling fertilizer on cash basis and so are the seed companies. Cash is king in these situations.

So, remember to keep you cash ready for use, trade is fast turn around high yield commodities like gold, diamonds, grain and production inputs but only on cash basis because with the current low interest rates financing is not paying much and it ties up your liquidity!

Arsenal plays United following two away defeats, I feel a win coming!! Have a great weekend!!

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People and their ways!

Taura Khuluma Say it!!, , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

So we are back from the weekend, everyone around me seems to be finding a little harder to cope with their lives, they are stressed out, tempers being easily tempered with. Why can’t we all just get along?!

Speaking of which, I am not one for celebrity gossip but some people take being a business too far. Celebrities are, essentially, who they are because of who they are but if you take celebrity and make a business out of it then wonder why everyone is in you business, maybe you don’t like who you are because everyone is in your business because of that. We all have pressures but being married for 72 days and then realising that you didn’t like it after all somehow seems to me like it was all a bit of a wind up. Then we come to find out that the wedding pictures were sold for $6.5million it becomes harder to understand the ingenuity of the whole marriage in the first place. People want to know how it is that people can do such kinds of things, 72 days!

Today I was discussing corporate governance with a group of future managers from around the world and it was striking to hear that in the 8 countries that are represented in the group bribes and bribing is considered part and parcel of the business environment in their country. Which led me to ask ” is corruption a common factors amongst all nations?” How do you feel about it? Having been in a society were corruption is not as commonly practiced for the last 11 years, I have come to realise that everything runs smoother when there is transperancy in the access, allocation and use of resources. The ties to my mother land confirms this opinion even more so, we watch people speaking of how Zimbabwe has the best resources per capita ratio in the world but that is only fantasy because the reality that the ratio of resources per capita on the ground is heavily skewed in favour of the rich minority. If only the resources were evenly allocated across the population, only then would the people of Zimbabwe benefit from this glorious statistic that politician use to lace their speeches with.

Corruption is the reasons why the villagers in Marange live in fear because their homes are built on the richest deposit of diamonds the world has discovered in recent times instead of being hopeful that their lives will improve because of those diamonds. Corruption is the reason why there is fuel shortage in Nigeria when the country produces oil for the rest of the world. How is it that only a handful of people hold nations at ransom, have we all bee bribed to accept this mediocre state of affairs or are we too busy paying the bribes for short term gains. Politics!

How about the football?, I told you we would beat chelsea! Now onto the next

An audience with the Deputy Prime Minister

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After what seemed to an eternity and a comedy of gaffes, the DPM and other speakers turned up for the 10 am event at 2:30pm so you could forgive me for being sceptical before and up to the time the DPM started speaking. It was a stereotypical Zimbabwean experience of unapologetic lateness, add to that the soundman who had been drafted in to provide audio did not turn up on time, he actually arrived after the DPM had started his presentation and was rightly dressed down for it. Some things never change!!

But, once in a while there are surprises and my initial scepticism turned into optimism as the DPM’s presentation wore on, here was a different man with different thoughts that are not too unlike my own in terms the problems in Zimbabwe and the possible solutions to those problems. He spoke as a person who has seen that things can be done differently with success, He acknowledged the faults and challenges of a coalition government and eloquently pointed out that even here in the UK coalition government are notoriously difficult when it comes to speaking with one voice, making consistent policies and building confidence to those observing from a distance.

So what I learned was that there is a part for the diaspora to play in the rebuilding of Zimbabwe but that will be difficult because our expectations are unknown to those at home, somethings we go through in the diaspora are alien to them so there is need to educate either sides of the people on how to work together. There are plenty of opportunities because the period between 2000 and 2009 saw all production grinding to a halt, farming fell to 40% in not even lower , there are now more minerals to mine, the universities have closed many faculties, hospitals are operating below optimum level so surely there is a a role to play for everyone. But as the DPM said “we still need people to stay in the diaspora so that they can learn and transfer knowledge, technology and investments home”

Oh, and there is a woman selling a grinding mill!, during the question and answer session the DPM asked for women to be given a chance to ask questions because up to that time only men had been asking questions at which point one lady got the microphone and said “before I ask a question can I let everyone one know that I am selling a grinding mill, due to the electricity shortages I haven’t used it for a while so I have decided to sell it” Another lady got her chance and said “DPM I need a tractor, I have been to all banks in Zimbabwe and none of them are willing to lend me money because I live in the UK, I have a farm and contracts to supply veggies to M&S and Tesco but I can’t do it without a tractor”. But it wasn’t only women with the clever questions, one chap got up and said “DPM  we need an MP for the diaspora?” good idea but that would mean one person will represent 2 million Zimbabweans making the diaspora the biggest single seat in parliament!!

I am going into politics!

 

 

I stand corrected!!

Taura Khuluma Say it!!, , Leave a comment

I failed to resist the pressure to attend the ZimExpo seminar on Zimbabwe’s economy and the role diasporan Zimbabweans can play in the future of the country presented by the Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe and Secretary of Affirmative Action Group no less! It turned out to be a day full of stereotypes being confirmed and suprises of finding the opposite is also true after wrongly assuming that everything is the same in the higher offices of politics.

What an insightful and enhancing afternoon!!

Full commentary to follow