Assessing the Role of Local Authorities in Promoting Tourism in Zimbabwe. A Case of Victoria Falls City Council

Abstract

The paper sought to assess the role of urban local authorities in promoting tourism development within their areas' jurisdiction. Zimbabwe is a country that has tourist destinations that attract tourists from all over the world, including Victoria Falls, Chinhoyi caves, and Great Zimbabwe ruins. There is a literature gap on the role of local authorities as much of the research has assessed the central government's contribution, leaving a literature gap on the role of sub-national governments, given that these sub-national governments operate under delegated power from the centre. The research adopted the qualitative approach, with the case study being the Victoria Falls City Council. Data was collected using interviews and observations. The researcher complemented primary data with secondary data to achieve reliability and validity. Data was presented using thematic and content analyses. The research established that local authorities play a critical role in tourism development through place marketing, efficient and effective service delivery, infrastructure development, and maintenance, to name a few. The research recommends that more should be done amongst them, including the full implementation of the devolution policy, improvement in service delivery, and the formulation of investment-friendly policies at the sub-national government level.