Muchanyuka takes over the reins at ZTA

THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) recently appointed business executive Winnie Muchanyuka as substantive Chief Executive Officer, replacing Karikoga Kaseke who resigned last year.

Machanyuka takes over from

Chidzidzi who has been acting CEO.

In a media release ZTA Head Corporate Affairs Godfrey ‘Chief’ Koti said she was highly experienced in tourism.

Announcing the appointment, ZTA board chairman Ray Mawerera paid homage to Chidzidzi for his sterling work during the period in which he was acting CEO and for also driving the ZTA’s launch of ZimBho domestic tourism campaign and the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) initiative.

Meanwhile the Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu hailed the appointment of Muchanyuka as a step in the right direction.

“e appointment of Winnie Muchanyuka to the ZTA as CEO is apt in that she is not a stranger to the tourism industry. e industry awaited such an appointment with comfort.

“ere are high hopes for tourism amid clear signs of recovery in the sector. Statistically, the first quarter of 2022 has been quite promising and there is a need to maintain that trajectory.

“Tourism inflows increased by 100 percent to register US$214 million this quarter. As we are opening up the sector, the tourism industry should grow bigger and bigger. ZTA is the critical bridge between the private sector and policymaking.

“Despite the fact that tourism struggled under COVID-19, there is hope for it to grow bigger. e US$5 billion tourism sector target is achievable if we work together collectively.

“We seek to review the targets only upwards. Tourism is the face of the country, the key voice of our country. e ZTA and the tourism sector should forge close ties with the media. e ZTA CEO and entire management, I urge your dedication towards growing the industry and to embrace success as we march towards the 2025 target of a US$5 billion tourism economy.”

Accepting her appointment Muchanyuka said, “e ZTA Team has done and continues to do tremendous work towards growing the tourism industry. I pledge my support to the mandate given to me by the Principal, Honourable Mangaliso Ndlovu, the tourism minister and the US$5 billion tourism target he alluded to is not changing.

“In fact, we can surpass it. Zimbabwe needs to achieve a middle-income economy by 2030 and tourism plays a key role in achieving that goal. I also looking forward to a close partnership with the media in telling the good story of this country. I am excited to be starting on this journey,” Muchanyuka said.

Muchanyuka has a vast experience in tourism. She was on the board of the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe and the Chinhoyi University School of Tourism.

She also has vast experience in the aviation industry with a stint as an air hostess for Air Zimbabwe and Swiss Air.

She moved to Swissair where she worked as a sales representative for seven years before moving to South African Airways in 2000, rising to country head for Zimbabwe from a sales executive position.

A holder of a Master of Science Degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management, Muchanyuka has won various awards from the aviation industry in the last decades.

She also holds a Master in Business Administration from the University of Gloucestershire and is currently working on PhD in Tourism with the University of Pretoria and has also emerged as one of the few trailblazing and goal oriented female executives who have left an indelible mark on the aviation world.

She attended school in Chinhoyi and her first role in the aviation industry was in the reservations call centre.