Spain, one of Zimbabwe’s top three international tourism markets, has pledged to strengthen tourism cooperation with the country as both nations seek to leverage tourism to promote sustainable economic growth, closer bilateral ties and stronger people-to-people connections.
The commitment was expressed during a courtesy meeting between Zimbabwe’s Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Hon. Barbara Rwodzi, and the Ambassador of Spain to Zimbabwe, Her Excellency Lourdes Sangroniz.
Sangroniz commended Zimbabwe’s impressive tourism performance and highlighted the country’s diverse tourism offerings, particularly the KAZA UniVisa and the Gastronomy Tourism initiative being advanced under the patronage of the First Lady, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa. She described these initiatives as important drivers of sustainable destination development and regional tourism integration. Minister Rwodzi reaffirmed Zimbabwe’s commitment to deepening its tourism partnership with Spain across areas including destination management, hospitality, gastronomy and tourism education.
She called for the signing of the already-concluded Tourism Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries, saying it would provide a stronger framework for cooperation in destination marketing, investment promotion, technical cooperation, information exchange and skills development. The minister also stressed the importance of strengthening collaboration between Zimbabwean and Spanish tour operators to promote reciprocal tourism and increase visitor arrivals between the two countries.
Rwodzi highlighted Zimbabwe’s clustered tourism strategy, which seeks to broaden the country’s tourism offering beyond traditional nature and wildlife products to include gastronomy, religious and sports tourism. She noted that gastronomy tourism is also emerging as a tool of soft diplomacy and international relations, helping Zimbabwe use its culinary heritage to strengthen international engagement. As part of efforts to develop the country’s culinary tourism and education capacity, the minister highlighted Zimbabwe’s benchmark study visit to the Basque Culinary Centre in Spain, which is supporting plans for the establishment of the Africa International Academy for Culinary Arts.
The minister also invited Spain to participate in the forthcoming Sanganayi/Hlanganani Dzimbahwe World Tourism Expo, scheduled to take place in Masvingo from September 9 to 12, 2026. The strengthened engagement is expected to provide a platform for expanded tourism investment, skills exchange, destination promotion and stronger business-to-business links between Zimbabwe and Spain, while supporting Zimbabwe’s tourism development objectives under National Development Strategy.
