YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR INSPIRES TECHNOLOGICAL GROWTH IN TOURISM & WINS INNOVATION CHALLENGE
THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) is leveraging on young people to drive the growth of the sector through innovation and an upper six student recently won the wins inaugural Tourism Innovation Challenge.
Jeffrey Murungweni is a 19-year-old gentleman devoted to entrepreneurship. He is currently an Upper Six student at Watershed College, in Marondera, where he also serves as the School’s Brand Ambassador for the year 2021.
The young entrepreneur was who was inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic came up with a digital platform named Trafiki Africa that seeks to offer quality yet affordable accommodation using technologies in the shared economy space. The platform will allow users to book and pay for their accommodation and other tourism services through a WhatsApp chat bot.
The innovation challenge had a cash prize of $US 5000 and Jeffrey Murungweni won the prize money against 60 other contestants.
“We are going to continue this challenge for the next couple of years, to promote participation of youth in tourism, we want different ideas and innovations that they have which can help us transform the tourism industry, we have so much talent and we believe the youth are the future,” said ZTA Director for Domestic Tourism and Strategic Research, Sophie Zirebwa
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) is optimistic about the inclusion of tech-savvy youths in to modernize the sector as the country aims on becoming a digital economy by 2030.
