Tourism and hospitality minister, Walter Mzembi revealed to the UN World Tourism Organization that he has a proposition for Disney World to come to Victoria Falls. Disnelyand in Africa would occupy 300 acres of land and also include casinos and shopping malls.
"We need a bit of development [and to] attract the youthful market into this destination. Current visitors are very elderly couples [and] the youth are a bit bored," said Mzembi according to Zimbabwe state media.
Some believe the plans are a horrible idea not only because much of Zimbabwe lacks basic necessities such as running water but also because it will change the natural and historic landscape.
"It would be like building a casino beside the pyramids," Lisa Grainger said to the Telegraph. "The reason people visit the falls is because it's unspoiled and natural; it's a glorious part of the Earth. Not because they want to buy candy-floss and be immersed in an American-style theme park."
The park would be near Victoria Falls International airport. Mzembi said according to The Guardian, "We want to create a free zone with a banking centre where even people who do not necessarily live in Zimbabwe can open bank accounts."
"Zimbabwe's considerable tourism potential was devastated by a decade of conflict and hyperinflation but has recovered in recent years. The government says it recorded a 17% increase in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2013, up 346,299 to 404,282. It has predicted the tourism sector will contribute 15% to GDP by 2015 if the country remains stable," reported The Guardian.
Zimbabwe is cohosting the UNWTO conference this week, which the UN Watch condemned and said it was a "disgraceful show of support - and a terribly timed award of false legitimacy - for a brutal, corrupt and authoritarian regime."
Hillel Neuer, head of the Geneva-based grou p said according to The Guardian: "Amid reports of election rigging and continuing human rights abuses, Zimbabwe is the last country that should be legitimised by a UN summit of any kind. The notion that the UN should spin this country as a lovely tourist destination is, frankly, sickening."
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