The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) announced the development in a press statement released today.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality, Deputy Director Mr Douglas Mavhembu commended the move and having actively used the application himself said it was necessary.
"Youdao is an amazing and cost effective application which has made it easy for us to commune with the Chinese Market.
"Without which communication would have been futile and our being here would not have yielded as much results," he said.
"We anticipate an increase in patronage by the Chinese Market after this show. It is, therefore, critical that in our preparations to host, our tourism industry needs must seriously consider adopting communication applications," he added.
The application is necessary especially at a time where the country is participating at the 2019 CITM in Kunming, China, making it convenient, as the Zimbabwean Delegation interfaces with the Chinese market which is generally a non-English speaking nation.
The move has stirred positive responses from different shareholders in the tourism industry, who recently welcomed government's support towards enabling the industry to reach its full potential by extending: rebate on capital equipment imported by hotel and lodge owners in the country, suspension of duty on motor vehicles used by safari operators and introducing suspension of duty facility to car hire companies.
"This show has been an eye opener and a pointer to the need for our industry to up our game in terms of assimilation of globally trending applications.
"We are excited about Youbao and Wechat and these will go a long way in breaking communication barriers and facilitating payments between my company and our Chinese clients.
"I urge all operators interested in the same market to adopt the same," remarked Mr Gordon Mukanganwi of Batoka Safaris who is part of the Zimbabwe Delegation.
WeChat is China's popular transactionary billion-user messaging application.
The Chinese Market is technologically advanced and this calls for adoption of social media platforms which aid in effective communication and ease transactionary processes.
