The upcoming Zim-Open Golf Match is a chance for the nation to faucet into the huge and multi-billion-dollar sports activities tourism sector, serving to to boost the expansion of the native financial system generally.
Sports activities tourism is a kind of tourism exercise that refers back to the journey expertise of the vacationer who both observes as a spectator or actively participates in a sporting occasion typically involving industrial and non-commercial actions of a aggressive nature, in keeping with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
The worldwide sports activities tourism market was valued at US$564,7 billion in 2023 and is projected to register a compound annual development price (CAGR) of over 10 % between 2024 and 2030.
Talking on the launch of the FBC Zim-Open Golf Match, sponsor FBC Holdings (FBCH) chief govt officer (CEO) Mr Trynos Kufazvinei acknowledged the position of the sports activities business in boosting tourism and its potential in Zimbabwe. The match itself attracts contributors from throughout the globe, creating scope for the group to associate with the celebrated sport. For this version, FBCH is sponsoring it to the tune of US$200 000.
“The Zimbabwe Open Golf match attracts prime golfers from throughout the globe, the African continent, and Zimbabwe,” mentioned Mr Kufazvinei on the launch in Harare.
“The sporting occasion performs a strategic position in driving socio-economic growth by way of selling sports activities tourism and constructing worldwide relations,” he mentioned.
This 12 months’s version will see prime Zimbabwean golfers – siblings Scott and Kieran Vincent, and Robson Chinhoi collaborating within the match that might be held at Royal Harare. Sports activities tourism is a basic axis, producing round 10 % of the world’s expenditure on tourism, and is, in keeping with the UNWTO, one of many fastest-growing sectors in tourism as extra vacationers are considering sports activities actions throughout their journeys whether or not sports activities are the primary goal of journey or not.
For a rustic like Zimbabwe, sports activities tourism’s potential can’t be ignored. Latest occasions like internet hosting the ICC Males’s Cricket World Cup qualifiers have put Harare and Bulawayo on the worldwide map, buzzing with worldwide followers.
Each home and worldwide guests have offered a fine addition to the hospitality business, showcasing Zimbabwe’s capacity to stage world-class sporting occasions.
Exterior cricket, Zimbabwe additionally gives a novel mix of sporting adventures amongst them white water rafting down the mighty Zambezi River or teeing off on a championship golf course overlooking Victoria Falls.
The Kariba Tiger Fishing Match is one other instance of the sporting actions the nation gives boosting the tourism business.
Regardless of the huge alternatives, sports activities fanatics have bemoaned the deplorable state of sporting infrastructure, which threatens the expansion of sports activities tourism. In golf as an illustration, the variety of programs has halved to simply over 30, because the Nineteen Eighties.