Stakeholders’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practises towards Health Tourism Development in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

This research explored the feasibility of developing health tourism in Zimbabwe using knowledge levels, attitudes of stakeholders and current practises as barometers of the destination’s potential. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with tourism experts, hoteliers and tour operators in Harare (capital city of Zimbabwe). The major findings of the study on knowledge, attitudes and practices were that knowledge level on health tourism was high among hoteliers and tourism experts, with tour operators exhibiting little knowledge. In terms of attitude, hoteliers were quite positive about the adoption of health tourism while tourism experts were pessimistic about health tourism’s potential to provide a return on investment. On current health tourism practises the study revealed that there were health packages offered by hotels to a limited extent and only as a requirement for their grading. Nevertheless, an overarching insight from the study was that development of health tourism was a possibility in Zimbabwe if marketed in tandem with existing `anchor’ attractions such as Victoria Falls and others of a similar international stature and appeal.