Querying the Colonial Factor in Zimbabwe’s Prime Tourist Destination Toponym

The naming of Zimbabwe’s prime tourist destinations has remained underexplored in tourism research, despite its centrality to cultural identity and heritage representation. The majority of these destinations, such as Victoria Falls, Kariba Dam, and Hwange National Park, bear colonial or anglicised names that obscure indigenous meanings and histories. While a wave of toponymic reforms during post-independence Zimbabwe (1980s–1990s) swept through schools, roads, and government buildings, tourist destinations were largely exempted, signalling the persistence of an "imperial hook" designed to attract traditional international markets. This study was motivated by the need to interrogate how colonial toponyms destabilise the cultural and traditional rubric of Zimbabwe’s tourism landscape and to question the silences in renaming policies. Using a qualitative approach, the research examined the cultural, historical, and political implications of naming practices in major tourist sites. Findings reveal that colonial naming practices continue to distort heritage meanings and weaken local ownership of tourism resources. The study promotes a decolonial approach that prefers the use of endonyms to exonyms, thereby consolidating community identity and fostering socio-economic development. In addressing the colonial legacy of tourism toponyms, the research contributes to ongoing debates on decolonisation, heritage preservation, and sustainable tourism development in Zimbabwe.