“Culture” a Panacea for Brand Survival: Feasibility Analysis of Zimbabwe Tourism Destination

Abstract

The study investigated culture as one the strategies that can be used to enhance survival of Zimbabwe tourism brand. This is because like other African tourism destinations, Zimbabwe is rich in unique traditional culture but failing to improve its global tourism brand identity. The study was based on a mixed methods research design combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting data from respondents. The qualitative method was used to find out the most crucial variables that contribute to culture identity in Zimbabwe tourism destination. This was done through in-depth interviews with the experts and managers in the tourism industry. The responses showed that the most common sources of culture identity are beliefs and norms, national dress code, galleries and heritage, originality in values and language. These variables were then investigated on their effect to Zimbabwe tourism destination branding using survey questionnaires as quantitative research instruments. The respondents for the questionnaires were from the travel sector, accommodation sector, resorts, Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Environment. The results of the study show that national dress code is the most important source for Zimbabwe tourism cultural branding followed by galleries and heritages and originality in values. The study therefore recommended these three as the most core source for branding Zimbabwe tourism destination using culture. The other variables which are language, beliefs and norms have been regarded as supporting cultural factors and a model was designed to show the relationships.