ZIMBABWE has imported more than 1,5 million litres of different kinds of wines from South Africa since the start of the year as the country is fast growing into a new market for the beverage.

Wine tourism is fast emerging as a pull factor in many destinations and key tourism markets have identified food and wine as deciding factors in picking a holiday destination.

Tourism experts believe travellers select holiday destinations based on type and availability of wine as one of the deciding factors, as wine is one of the sophisticated beverages well sought after by tourists.

Tourism players and hoteliers in Zimbabwe have also embraced the new trend and have in the past few years been participating in events organised by the Wines of South Africa (WoSA), an export marketing body wholly owned by the industry.

On Friday and Saturday, a wine tasting festival was held at a Victoria Falls hotel where about 20 exhibitors showcased their different wine tastes. WoSA marketing manager for Africa, Mr Matome Mbatha, said various trainings were lined up to capacitate different stakeholders with knowledge in the wine industry.

“Zimbabwe is one of the strategic markets that we need to grow. When we made that decision to look into Zimbabwe we were monitoring and seeing growth patterns. The figures are looking good as Zimbabwe is sitting on about 1,5 million litres from South Africa in comparison with countries like Kenya currently importing about 4,5 million litres,” he said.State media