Papers by Precious Mazhande
Purpose: There is tremendous potential for vibrant township tourism in Zimbabwe. The country boas... more Purpose: There is tremendous potential for vibrant township tourism in Zimbabwe. The country boasts an abundance of township tourism resources such as monuments of colonial history, administrative centers, informal sector activities, co-existence of traditional and modern cuisine, art and craft centers, community markets, iconic personalities and buildings, and others. Despite this rich heritage of tourism resources, township tourism has failed to attract a critical mass of clients to make it viable thereby depriving the country of potential revenue of this form of alternative tourism. Keeping this in mind, the main objective of the study was to develop a model for packaging and popularising township tourism in Zimbabwe. Method: The study adopted a qualitative methodology. Data were collected from Tour operators, residents, and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority through participant observations and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: The study reveale...
The process of making career choices is complex since there are diverse factors affecting student... more The process of making career choices is complex since there are diverse factors affecting students' selection of programs when they enrol in higher and tertiary institutions. Just like in any other discipline, tourism and hospitality management graduates are affected by various factors when deciding their careers post-graduation. Preliminary studies have shown that a significant percentage of tourism and hospitality graduates divert from tourism to some other, sometimes totally unrelated, industries for employment. This study seeks to discover tourism and hospitality degree graduates' perceptions and career attainment in Zimbabwe. The following critical questions were asked in order to achieve the objective of the study; Why do they enrol for the tourism/hospitality program in the first place, that is what factors affect the students' selection process of tertiary education programs? and why do some end up in totally different fields after graduating? Qualitative researc...
Journal of Convention & Event Tourism
It is evident from literature that the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world econ... more It is evident from literature that the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world economies to its 'knees'. No industry has gone untouched by the effects of this pandemic. Globally there has been an adverse impact on travel which is backbone of the hotel industry. This study focuses on exploring the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on Zimbabwean hotel sector. The objectives of the study focused on investigating the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on hotel occupancy and revenue and proposing strategies that can be implemented for recovery post the pandemic. The study adopted a mixed method approach, semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather data from 29 (3-5 star) hotel management across the various major tourism cities in Zimbabwe. Findings reveal that the Covid-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on hotel occupancy and revenue. Occupancy and revenue have dropped. Strategies have been employed by hotel to cope with the adverse impact of reduced occupancy and revenue, these include working with minimal staff to avoid increases exposure, closing other parts of the hotel to reduce operational cost and operating on take out bases. It can be concluded that hotels in Zimbabwe are not prepared for pandemics like Covid-19. It is therefore recommended that disaster management plans relating to pandemics be developed and implemented by hotels.
Hospitality & Tourism Review
Purpose: There is tremendous potential for vibrant township tourism in Zimbabwe. The country boas... more Purpose: There is tremendous potential for vibrant township tourism in Zimbabwe. The country boasts an abundance of township tourism resources such as monuments of colonial history, administrative centers, informal sector activities, co-existence of traditional and modern cuisine, art and craft centers, community markets, iconic personalities and buildings, and others. Despite this rich heritage of tourism resources, township tourism has failed to attract a critical mass of clients to make it viable thereby depriving the country of potential revenue of this form of alternative tourism. Keeping this in mind, the main objective of the study was to develop a model for packaging and popularising township tourism in Zimbabwe. Method: The study adopted a qualitative methodology. Data were collected from Tour operators, residents, and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority through participant observations and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: The study revea...
Journal of Gastronomy hospitality and travel, 2020
Tipping is a common practice globally and at times mandatory in some societies, at the same time,... more Tipping is a common practice globally and at times mandatory in some societies, at the same time, some communities regard tipping as taboo. African societies view tipping differently and this poses a challenge among international tourists, particularly those from the west who are used to expressing their gratitude towards a satisfactory service through giving a tip. While it is almost certain that some nationals will always give a tip, do Africans, particularly Zimbabweans subscribe to the tipping philosophy? There is not enough literature in academia on tipping amongst African tourists, particularly those in Zimbabwe. Preliminary review of literature has revealed that there are only two studies published on the tipping practice in Zimbabwe. The one focused on the impact of tipping on waiters' service delivery as well as working relations among waiting staff (Mkono, 2011). The other study looked at the perceptions of hotel employees towards tipping and motivation (Kazembe, Mapingure & Chimutingiza, 2014). It is evident that the published studies were all supply side oriented without considering the demand side. This study seeks to interrogate the demand side by; (i) establishing the perceptions of domestic tourists when it comes to tipping; (ii) expose the nature of tipping amongst local tourists; (iii) establishing the motivation for tipping amongst domestic tourists. The study adopted a phenomenological philosophy, and used a qualitative design to collect and analyze data. The study conveniently sampled forty (40) domestic tourists from four (4) hotels in Zimbabwe and interviewed them. The findings revealed that domestic tourists in Zimbabwe perceive tipping as an appropriate and good practice. The main form 1 To cite this document: Mazhande, P.,
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Papers by Precious Mazhande