Online Reporter
TOURISM is not just a major component of the Gross Domestic Product, contributing around 10 percent of national wealth, but has a lot of room to expand rapidly and is now contributing 17 percent of GDP growth, meaning its share of the national economy is rising.
Part of the rapid growth has come from an outstanding recovery in arrivals after the Covid-19 pandemic that devastated foreign travel and tourism around the globe.
There has also been an increase in tourists staying longer in Zimbabwe and exploring more, rather than just visiting Victoria Falls, checking out the wildlife in the giant Matabeleland North conservation areas, and then leaving.
The decline, at least in percentage terms, of day trippers coming in from Johannesburg for the day, looking at Victoria Falls, buying lunch, and then returning the same day is important.
It is when tourists are willing to stay for several days, or weeks, that we see rapid increases in tourism income, more jobs, and opportunities for additional investment, a lot of which can be local in this particular industry.
The Covid-19 crash was severe.
Tourism arrivals fell from 2,29 million visitors a year to just 375 799 in 2021. However, much of this crash was in the very short-stay visitors, and the rebuild in the industry has tended to focus more on those seeking a proper holiday.
Already this year, we have seen more than 1,3 million non-citizens coming in, plus around 300 000 citizens from the diaspora, giving a total of just over 1,6 million.
We should not ignore that large diaspora contingent.
They almost equal the total number from four years ago, and while they will often, perhaps usually, be staying with relatives and friends, they are highly likely to be a major driver of domestic and semi-domestic tourism as they take their relatives on holiday and show their children the heritage of Zimbabweans.
This particular group is large enough to generate some special services, often similar to those of domestic tourists, but perhaps including more of what people with love and loyalty for their old country, but living elsewhere, want to ensure that their children, foreign spouses, and the like know who they are and where they come from.
Among the pure foreign tourists, Americans have now overtaken British and German arrivals, which is again likely to be good news.
The further away a tourist usually lives, the more likely they are to invest in a decent holiday when they do travel such long distances.
This again opens up opportunities.
There are some highly specialised safari businesses in Zimbabwe that offer a solid connection to Africa with high levels of safety, comfort, and privacy where desired.
There are other businesses prepared to help tourists move around the country and see many more attractions.
The opening up of far smoother regional travel is also important.
Not only will countries see more visitors from their neighbours in a sort of upgraded domestic tourism, where special attractions such as mountains and sea coasts may predominate, but it will also make it a lot easier for international tourists to move around a block of countries, thereby extending their stay in Southern Africa.
Zimbabwe has a lot to offer, but needs to be able to deliver if it wants to continue building its tourism industry and attracting visitors from non-traditional markets, largely in Africa and Asia.
As with so many businesses, the critical aspects are quality, value for money and a good product.
Zimbabwe has been doing well here along with some of the other positive aspects.
High levels of safety and low crime rates are a major plus in attracting both foreign visitors and encouraging more Zimbabweans to tour their own country.
That fast-growing domestic tourism is also important when thinking about international visitors.
An attraction that manages to satisfy Zimbabweans, and which has likely developed its layers of quality to cope with Zimbabweans wanting value for every dollar, obviously has a good start when it comes to catering for foreigners.
The other major advantage our tourism operators have is their willingness to expand attractions, such as the recent emphasis on traditional foods and having chefs who can continue creating an ever-wider range of dishes using traditional ingredients and cooking methods.
Many people do like to eat local dishes when they travel.
Tourism has other advantages for economic growth.
It offers many opportunities for local investment, sometimes with quite modest investments.
The smaller family businesses, family restaurants, and family hotels are staples of tourism in many countries, providing a high level of richness to complement the giant investments by major hotel chains and the like.
The Government’s willingness to see tourism expand rapidly has led to some very practical investments in infrastructure.
We need decent airports, both the large hubs and the smaller but very safe airports in tourist areas, both old and new.
The good road network we are seeing now is not only necessary for trade and business, and for Zimbabweans to get around, but also provides the backbone required to ensure foreign tourists can easily see many more attractions.
The expansion in tourism has been a joint effort by many — Government, the private sector, and many subsectors within the private sector. We need to maintain this wide range of developers so we can move forward sustainably.
