The Sunday Mail
Charles Mavhunga
THE art of tourism branding in Zimbabwe, and Africa at large, should be understood in the context of the heritage thinking required to establish identity, reputation, image, perception and nuances of positivity of the mindset.
Africa is a victim of colonisation, and the golden heritage values associated with the country’s reputation on the international scene got lost along the way.
Colonisation removed the cultural value of reputation protection, and the identity feature of the country is under threat from colonial remnants.
In Germany, the tourism brand promises efficiency, and this is a global heritage value that Germans protect. In France, Paris promises romance to visitors and Egypt consistently promises humour.
In Zimbabwe, the time has come to go back to the drawing board to be redefined through our inherited traditions, monuments, objects, and cultural values as a branded tourist destination that promises peace, tranquillity and love.
A century of colonisation distorted the heritage values, but the road to transformation was cleared in 1980, when the country got its independence. Zimbabwe was born in 1980, after a protracted war of liberation, and the heritage systems of the people got restored.
However, the colonial system left its remnants in the mindsets of the people because a century of colonisation is a lifetime. This explains why some local journalists are not well-grounded in heritage values and continue to write negatively about the country in prominent newspapers, and for global news organisations in exchange for money.
The majority of these writers disguise themselves as investigative journalists, but the truth of the matter is they get paid to write stories that damage the image of the country.
Limited knowledge of heritage issues shows that people lack understanding of the sacrifices freedom fighters made to liberate the country from colonialists.
The sacrifices were meant to restore the dignity of the African people and protect their territory from identity degradation.
However, colonial remnants still exist and the colonialists are fighting to return through the back door.
Developed countries use notes from heritage values and heritage thinking to protect the reputation of their tourism destinations.
No amount of cash can be used to convert the mindset of a European journalist to write dehumanising stories about a European country because the heritage value is well-appreciated.
The colonial system caused black Africans on the continent to lose their sense of responsibility and become victims of poverty. As a result, they grab everything that can earn them a dollar.
Many Zimbabweans do not care about what they write on social media platforms, despite the damaging effects of their actions on a global scale. This is because the colonial system was designed to remove the sense of responsibility.
However, therapy to restore the dignity of the nation and help citizens to understand the dignity of protecting the image of the country is defined by heritage thinking. The praxeological perspective of heritage thinking is a step in the right direction. Knowledge of values that are ingrained in heritage thinking forms the fabric of the country’s development phase.
The legitimacy of heritage thinking in tourism branding is the inculcation of a deep sense of collaborative thinking of people to protect the country’s image like what the Germans do for their country. The ideas of heritage thinking involve sharing of values that are productive in terms of identity building.
Evidence gathered by prominent researchers in tourism branding suggests that heritage thinking includes the protection of the integrity of a country through authentication of the country’s history and cultural values.
Journalistic values of identity building should not be shaped by distortions of fortune-seeking journalism.
The management of information to protect the nation’s image and identity is pillar number one for citizens of Germany, France, the United States, China and other developed nations.
This is a wake-up call for citizens of the African continent to become groomed to remove colonial hangovers and start treating our continent as an identity through observation of heritage as a value-creation process.
The brand of a nation in the tourism industry is created by the citizens. It is the responsibility of the citizens to protect the identity of tourism destinations through choreography of heritage systems and values.
Zimbabweans are still new in the field of heritage thinking because the machinery of the colonial system was well-oiled to distort the mind-sets of black people in the country. However, the enlightened freedom fighters had to sacrifice their own lives to restore the dignity of the people. It is, therefore, important for citizens to support the country’s brand.
It is important for Zimbabweans to draw lessons from the coronation of King Charles III recently. The coronation indicates that the British people are conservative in terms of their heritage systems.
To earn respect in the global world, Zimbabweans need to observe the importance of heritage thinking in order to define the origins of the country in 1980.
Charles Mavhunga co-authored textbooks in business enterprising skills and is currently studying for a PhD in Management at Bindura University. He can be contacted at: [email protected]. Cell: +263772989816
