Making the rounds in Hwange town
Hwange is a place where nature, heritage and people come together, and through ATH we are building bridges between stakeholders who share this vision. Shamah, our program coordinator who was on assignment from our Marketing Committee engaged with key stakeholders across the region. The response was quite encouraging. It’s one thing to engage with tourism players who work in the immediate areas surrounding our national parks, but often - it’s the businesses who operate in our small towns and growth points that really keep our sector going by supplying vital tourism resources as part of our supply chain. ATH invites all stakeholders and institutions to join in collaboration - working together to preserve Hwange’s legacy while unlocking its opportunities.
Pick & Pay and OK Supermarket embraced ATH by approving the listing of their brands on our website and sharing their marketing team’s contacts for smoother collaboration. This also helps them to highlight the important resource these companies provide self-drive tourists visiting the area and for our lodges operating in Hwange.
AFC Bank expressed appreciation for our initiatives and confirmed their attendance at the next stakeholders’ meeting, reinforcing their commitment to community engagement in Hwange. CABs showed strong support for ATH and welcomed being listed on our website.
Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) remains one of Hwange’s largest and most influential organizations with operations at a variety of facilities. Sites under HCCL’s stewardship include Mine Tours, the Kamandama Memorial Site and the Nambya Museum - all significant cultural and historical attractions still to be further explored, developed, preserved.
At Company Lodge, Tatenda offered warm hospitality and encouraged ATH to explore the Hwange Angling Boat Company (HABC). These engagements demonstrate the diversity of purpose among Hwange’s key institutions. From supermarkets and banks to heritage-rich organizations like HCCL, stakeholders recognise the value of ATH as a platform for visibility, collaboration and conservation.
We not only learned about these great institutions, but we also were inspired - and one example of this was from our meeting with Kitso Dube, a 2020 Mandela Washington Fellow and international speaker who has represented Africa on global platforms. Kitso is a manager at FBC Bank but is also an entrepreneurial role model for the community. Working with her husband, she has established three supermarkets in Hwange and also is an established farmer with poultry and a piggery. ATH will continue to strengthen partnerships that not only market Hwange as a world-class destination but also safeguard its ecosystems, cultural heritage and community. By working with our stakeholders, we are ensuring Hwange remains untamed and unforgettable for generations to come.