The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga, Senior Business Reporter
LOCAL tourism operators have set their sights on the Japanese market which is characterised by high spenders and is one of the target markets in Asia that is still yet to be explored by the region.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief operating officer Mr Givemore Chidzidzi said the Japanese are known globally to be one of the biggest generators of tourist traffic and that they rank among the top spenders in the world.
He said in Asia, Japan is ranked just behind China in terms of the number of outbound travellers but leads when it comes to expenditure per person per trip.
“Zimbabwe offers numerous opportunities for the Japanese market. Japan has been closed to the outside world for a long time and is also far away from many tourist destinations. An African experience that includes wildlife, culture and cuisine is what the Japanese traveller is looking for. Japanese have a way of life and culture that is completely different from the rest of the world including the Asian. The Victoria Falls as one of the wonders of the world and a world heritage site is considered highly on the list of must see places for the Japanese,” said Mr Chidzidzi who was part of the Zimbabwean delegation at the Japanese Association of Travel Agents (Jata) Tourism Expo in Tokyo, Japan recently.
He, however, said for local operators to tap into the Japanese market, it was important for the country to first address issues of access as the Asian country is a long haul market where one needs at least 20 hours flying time.
Mr Chidzidzi said southern Africa at the moment receives about 60 000 Japanese visitors with South Africa receiving the lion’s share followed by Zimbabwe.
“There is therefore a lot of potential for the Zimbabwean tourism sector to grow the Japanese market but this needs more effort,” he said.
Mr Chidzidzi said to attract the Japanese market, it was important to package the region as a single destination as during engagements at the expo it was noted that the Japanese would like to visit more than one country and that they also do not have a lot of time for vacation.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Deputy Minister Anastancia Ndhlovu who led the Zimbabwean delegation to Tokyo said issues surrounding facilitation of travel, access to and in the destination, product market match and service standards that were revealed by the market research undertaken with the assistance of the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) were already receiving attention in the region.
“Visa requirements are being reviewed, while local operators are working on their product to meet the market needs. Governments in the region are progressively opening their skies to improve access,” she said.
A target to grow the market to more than 500 000 Japanese tourists per annum by 2020 was set and a marketing and strategic plan to penetrate and grow the Japanese market for the region is already being developed with the help of JICA.
