By Luckmore Safuli
AIRPORTS Company of Zimbabwe says it has placed attention on making a contribution to the realization of increased tourist traffic into the country through revamping and modernization of the airports in line with the National Development Strategy NDS-1 targets.
The recently established state-owned entity which is mandated to among other things manage all airports in-country and to upgrade aviation infrastructure has outlined its plans to contribute to the realization of the US$5 billion tourism industry through revamping of airports in order to boost tourist arrivals.
Airports Company of Zimbabwe Board Chairperson Mr Devnanda Popatlal the entity’s short to medium term plans revolves around the creation of robust airports infrastructure in order to attract more international airline and promote the growth of the tourism industry.
“The main issue is that we would like to place much attention on construction and expansion of airports and l must say that we are committed to playing our role in the realization of aspirations under the country’s Vision 2030.”
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe HAZ President Mr Clive Chinwada highlighted that improving accessibility into the destination remains critical post-covid-19 and welcomed moves by the government to resuscitate the national airline.
“What remains critical for our sector is accessibility into destination Zimbabwe. You would notice that South African Airways has been the major driver of most of the inflows into Zimbabwe. Currently, the airline is grounded which means access into our destination is difficult.”
Under the recently launched National Development Strategy 1 NDS-1, government is targeting to have reliable, safe and world-class air transport infrastructure and services. The country is also targeting to increase annual cargo handling capacity from 40.2 million tonnes to 43.0 million tonnes by 2025.
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