The national tourism awards, Twalumba Travel and Tourism that was launched on Wednesday in Harare at a colourful event held at the Meikles Hotel is aimed at stimulating individual and collective effort in pursuit of growth and development.
People and organisations worthy of recognition and acknowledgment will be the nominees and winners in the various categories each year.
In launching the awards, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Honourable Nqobizitha Ndlovu said the recognition will not be for the sake of personal or corporate glory but for the purpose of saying thank you for leading the way.
“Of course for this to happen, the credibility of these awards must be beyond reproach at all levels and on all fronts.
“We have agreed to be part of this process because we have been assured by our other partner stakeholders that indeed credibility of the awards will not be an issue of debate.
“These awards are to be known as the Twalumba Travel and Tourism Awards. The word Twalumba comes from the Tonga language and it mean ‘thank you’ – an appropriate meaning in such an awards context,” Minister Ndlovu said.
“It is fitting that the word comes from Tonga language as he Tonga people live in an area that has long been the foundation of our travel and tourism sector.
“It is a word that is easily pronounced, easily recognised and bound to become symbolic of our desire to make these awards meaningful, as well as a display of gratefulness by the whole nation.”
The logo of the awards and the design of the trophy represents our national symbol, the Zimbabwen bird.
“The bird is preparing to take off, reminding ourselves and the world around us that we are continuously moving onward and upward. Indeed the giant had awakened and the take-off is imminent,” Minister Ndlovu explained.
Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe president Winnie Muchanyuka reiterated the awards would recognise people and organisations who truly deserve such recognition.
“AS the representative body of all travel and tourism operators in Zimbabwe, the TBCZ commits itself to future cooperation in pursuit of excellence, which is wha the awards will symbolise,” she said.
The Full list of categories are as follows:
*Tourism Business of the Year*
*Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year*
*Tourism Personality of the Year*
*Eco-Tourism Facility of Initiative of the Year*
*Event of the Year*
*Corporate Responsibility Project of the Year*
*Coverage of travel and tourism in print media*
*Coverage of travel and tourism in broadcast media*
*Coverage of travel and tourism in the online media*
*Tour guide of the Year*
*Tourism Image Builder of the Year*
*Achievement in Marketing*
*Achievement in Digital Marketing*
*Achievement in Pursuit of Service Excellence*
*Achievement in Cultural Tourism*
*Achievement in promoting gender equality*
*Achievement in human resources development*
*Contribution from public sector*
*Achievement in innovation*