Zimbabwe is home to one of the seven natural travel wonders the Victoria falls in the Matabeleland North Province. Due to the political and economic instability over the last 10 years the country has not been able to fully exploit the benefits of being home to such a magnificent place. As part of branding the country as an investment and tourist destination the Victoria Falls provides a unique opportunity as a branding theme .As highlighted in the previous article a country can be successfully be branded based on its high quality products, services or a skill acquired by its people, a place like Jamaica is popularly associated with Reggae music, Bob Marley and other related themes.
Over the years Zimbabwe hasn’t done enough to be identified with the Victoria Falls . The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders) is a unique and spectacular waterfall situated in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are some of the largest in the world. It is clear South Africa has no direct physical link with the Victoria Falls.
However the South African country branding effort has been successful in linking the Victoria falls to South Africa such that many overseas tourist have the impression that Victoria Falls is in South Africa. Such is the power of an effectively packaged country branding strategy .Zimbabwe and Zambia despite being the true and actual owners of the Victoria falls are less identified with their own natural heritage which is a clear competitive advantage
The world famous Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Victoria Falls was so named by Scottish explorer David Livingstone, and this is the name in use in Zimbabwe. The older, local name of Mosi-oa-Tunya is the name in official use in Zambia. The World Heritage List recognizes both names as official names for the falls. While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is widely believed to be the largest. This claim is based on a width of 1.7 kilometers and height of 108 meters , forming the largest sheet of falling water in the world. These are unique and amazing features which can be featured prominently in the effort to differentiate Zimbabwe from the rest of the SADC region and attract both tourists and foreign direct investment .
The most widely accepted Natural travel wonders of the world include the following.
Serengeti Migration
Galápagos Islands
Grand Canyon
Amazon Rainforest
Ngorongoro Crater
Great Barrier Reef
Victoria Falls ,
It is a clear advantage when branding the country to have such an undisputable position in the world of travel. However just being home to the place doesn’t mean much for as long as there is no clear marketing strategy to lure visitors, tourists and foreign direct investment. These attributes have to be clearly highlighted and exposed to the world and directly link Zimbabwe’s image to its natural beauty as demonstrated by the Victoria falls and many other amazing places in the country .
A marketing and branding strategy focused on the Victoria falls is ideal as it forces the world to acknowledge a natural wonder which no-one can replace or duplicate. This is clearly a Zimbabwean advantage and should be embodied in the Zimbabwean experience such that when someone thinks about Zimbabwe Victoria falls with all its splendor comes to mind. If Zimbabwe doesn’t market and brand Victoria falls as truly Zimbabwean then some of the neighbors will only be too glade to do it and cash in on that .
Gilbert Muponda is an Entrepreneur based in Canada.
He is Founder of GMRI Capital He can be reached at;
Email: gilbert@gilbertmuponda.com . Skype ID: gilbert.Muponda
Twitter ; http://twitter.com/gmricapital
Phone: 1-416-841-5542
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