The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S tourism industry has continued to exhibit signs of solid and consistent recuperation from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic with a boom in visits by local and international tourists to the country’s premium tourist destinations during the festive season.
Stakeholders in the sector believe this may signal a rolling back of the good old times that characterised the pre Covid-19 era.
Tour operators and hoteliers said it was a busy and hectic period with over 70 percent occupancy rate and bookings for activities until after New Year’s Day.
In an interview, Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) chairman for Matabeleland North Arnold Musonza said a city like Victoria Falls had a busy festive season.
“The festive season business was very good for destinations such as Victoria Falls. This gave us a taste of the good old days when business was booming.
Mr Arnold Musonza
“We can see good signs of the return of international tourists to the destination, while domestic tourism has remained an anchor market as it is not subject to the same pressures that regional and international travellers face,” said Mr Musonza.
He said all things being equal, they foresee the sector this year getting back to the pre-Covid-19 pandemic numbers adding that they were ready for the envisaged growth. HAZ national committee executive for Bulawayo lodges Mrs Beauty Bhulu concurred with Mr Musonza adding that the trend was likely to continue and with lined up programmes and events for 2023, players and facilities in Bulawayo were going to get more visibility.
She urged players to start preparing and get geared up to showcase what the city has, while utilising various platforms to market themselves. Some of the key events that will take place in Bulawayo this year include the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) multi-sectoral International Exhibition that takes place in April, the Mining, Engineering and Transport (Mine Entra) in June, the Africa Infrastructure and Built Environment Confex (AfriConfex) in September and the Climate Change Conference in October among others.
Recently in a podcast, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) head of corporate affairs Mr Godfrey Koti revealed that the tourism sector had recorded brisk business with occupancy rates rising significantly in 2022 as the country received approximately US$600 million while US$300 million was poured in on investment.
He said a massive 96 percent increase in domestic entries into national parks was recorded on the local market.
Mr Koti said: “In addition, overseas arrivals increased by 256 percent and there was a 130 percent increase in visitors from Africa.
As a result, destination Zimbabwe received approximately US$600 million compared to US$244 million in the same period the 2021 while US$300 million was poured in on investment.”
In an earlier interview, the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) chief executive officer (CEO), Mr Paul Matamisa said business from 2022 going forward would be better than the previous years.
He said most players were on a recovery path adding that business was expected to go back to pre-Covid-19 levels.
The prospects for growth in the tourism industry comes at the back of government’s commitment in ensuring that marketing strategies were improved through embassy deployments.
Professor Mthuli Ncube
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said during this year’s budget presentation that Government would this year increase marketing and promotion efforts through deployment of tourism attachés at the embassies to aggressively promote destination Zimbabwe in key source markets that include China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
