A working model towards effective marketing of Destination Zimbabwe as a tourist attraction: a case of Victoria Falls

Abstract

This dissertation explores the effective marketing of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, as a premier tourist destination, focusing on overcoming dependencies on foreign booking agents and aligning marketing strategies with customer expectations. The primary objectives were to investigate why local tourism operators rely on overseas agents, assess correlations between promoted unique selling points (USPs) and tourist expectations, and develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for Victoria Falls. The literature review synthesizes insights from diverse studies to identify and summarise key patterns and developments in tourism destination marketing. It emphasises shifts towards digital platforms, sustainability, and community engagement, despite challenges such as ineffective traditional methods and reliance on external intermediaries. Key theories, including the Push-Pull Model, Aaker’s Brand Equity Model, Stakeholder Theory, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, provide a framework for the analysis, while empirical studies highlight gaps in digital adoption, cultural authenticity, and local capacity within African tourism contexts. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed, integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews (n=20 participants), observations (n=10 sessions), and document analysis (n=20 sources), while quantitative insights came from structured questionnaires (n=80 responses). Purposive and snowball sampling ensured diverse stakeholder representation, including operators, managers, and tourists. Data analysis involved thematic coding for qualitative elements and descriptive statistics for quantitative correlations, with triangulation enhancing validity. Ethical considerations, including informed consent and anonymity, were upheld throughout. Key findings indicate that reliance on foreign agents stems from market access barriers, technological deficits, trust issues, financial risks, and branding expertise gaps, perpetuating economic leakage. Unique Selling Points (USP) correlations show strong alignment for adventure elements but weaknesses in sustainability, cultural heritage, luxury positioning, and digital tools, with overall positive perceptions of the destination's core experience. The proposed marketing strategy emphasizes digital transformation with Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration, regenerative tourism branding, cultural co-creation with communities, hyper-personalized data-driven campaigns, and resilience narratives to address disruptions. Conclusions affirm that Victoria Falls' potential is undermined by structural dependencies and misaligned marketing, yet transformative strategies can foster autonomy, authenticity, and competitiveness. Recommendations include establishing a digital hub, regenerative certification, community revenue-sharing frameworks, privacy-first data platforms, resilience storytelling, and direct booking incentives. This study contributes to tourism literature by offering a Zimbabwe-specific model for sustainable destination marketing, with implications for policy, industry, and academia. Future research should evaluate longitudinal impacts of these strategies.