Geographic Description
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Mozambique to the east, South Africa to the south and Botswana to the southwest. The Zambezi River forms part of Zimbabwe’s northern border and the Limpopo River forms part of its southern border. Most of the country is high plateaus, but there also valleys and broad plains.
Tourism Policy Environment
Zimbabwe has policies in place that regulate environmental management, parks and wildlife and the tourism sector, specifically the:
- Parks and Wild Life Act (amended 1991); and the
- Tourism Act (amended 2001).
The Parks and Wild Life Act (1991) establishes the Parks and Wild Life Management Authority, and provides for the protection of parks, gardens, nature reserves, sanctuaries and safari areas, animals and indigenous plants.
The Tourism Act (2001) is the primary government document guiding the tourism sector in Zimbabwe. The Tourism Act firstly establishes the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), which manages and markets Zimbabwe as a tourist destination with the vision of becoming a leading National Tourism Organisation globally by 2009.
Secondly, the Act establishes the Zimbabwe Tourism Fund to develop the tourism sector under the management and control of the Minister of Environment and Tourism. Moneys in the Fund are primarily used to fund ZTA. Tourism facilities are also required to be registered or graded under the Act.
Certification / Award Programmes
Although tourism is currently suffering in Zimbabwe, the country does have three products accredited by greenstop.net, more than any other SADC country, indicating that at least some tourism product owners remain concerned with environmental sustainability.
TFCAs
Zimbabwe is a party to six TFCAs – the Limpopo Shashe (with Botswana and South Africa), the Great Limpopo (with Mozambique and South Africa), the Kavango-Zambezi (with Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia), the Lower Zambezi-Mana Pools (with Zambia), the Chimanimani (with Mozambique) and the ZIMOZA (with Mozambique and Zambia).
