More Tourists Shy Away From Zimbabwe

Date: 8 July 2004

Source: Financial Gazette (Harare)

Author: Anon

Zimbabwe's tourism sector, on the downturn since 2000 when the government embarked on its controversial and often chaotic land reform exercise, has sunk deeper into the doldrums as tourist arrivals continue to plummet.

Figures released by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) show that the country received 348 946 visitors during the first quarter of the year, a 43 percent decline compared to the same period last year when the country received 613 030 tourists.

Zimbabwe's economic problems and the political standoff between the two main political parties, ZANU PF and the Movement for Democratic Change, continue to give the country a bad image that is scaring away tourists.

Of the visitors to the country between January and March, 83 percent were from within the region, nine percent from Europe, four percent from America and a mere two percent each from Asia and Oceania.

Receipts from the tourism sector have plummeted from an all-time high of US$200 million in 1999 to US$44 million in 2003 - barely sufficient to cover the country's fuel requirements for one month.

Attempts to lure tourists from the Far East do not seem to be bearing fruit. Only 7 852 people visited the country from that region, a 55 percent drop from last year's first quarter figure of 16 197 visitors.

ZTA chief executive officer Tichaona Jokonya said the number of visitors from the Far East, particularly from China, has been low because this was still a relatively new market which the authority was trying to penetrate.

"Few people have come from China as this is a new market. But we will continue with our marketing efforts in China as there is a large potential market share for us," Jokonya said.

Jokonya also revealed that the ZTA was still looking forward to visitors from its traditional markets such as the United States and Europe, who tended to spend more than the Chinese.

Before Zimbabwe started attracting bad publicity arising mainly from the government's agrarian reform, tourism was the country's third largest foreign currency earner, behind agriculture and mining.

In 1999, the sector contributed about six percent to total national employment, a figure that has gone down to three percent.