malvernmugadzikwa
Business Writer
The tourism sector had a positive first quarter of the year with international tourist arrivals jumping 92,7 percent while receipts grew by 138 percent, latest figures from the 2022 First Quarter Bulletin released by Treasury show.
The sector is estimated to have generated about US$129,2 million during the period under review compared to US$54,2 million generated in the same period in 2021, reflecting a 138 percent increase.
With Government gradually removing Covid -19 restrictions, allowing tourism activities to resume, the sector saw airlines such as Eurowings Discover Airline, South Africa’s Airlink, and Fast Jet Zimbabwe flying into various tourist destinations.
Eurowings Discover Airline began flying into Victoria Falls, South Africa’s Airlink added a new Harare – Durban route whilst Fast Jet Zimbabwe introduced the Victoria Falls – Kruger Mpumalanga route. This helped international Tourist arrivals improve to 126 955 during the first quarter of 2022 when compared to 65 882 the same period last year.
“The positive performance was on account of a freer global travelling environment when compared to the whole of last year,” reads part of the Treasury Bulletin. Of the 126 955 arrivals, 62,7 percent came from Africa while 20,9 percent came from Europe while all the other regions contributed the remaining 16.4 percent.
Similarly, there was notable recovery in the accommodation sector with national average hotel room occupancy level recording a 20 percent improvement from 14 percent occupancy rate in 2021 to 34 percent in 2022. All regions in the country experienced growth ranging from 7 percent to 37 percent with Bulawayo recording the highest growth and an occupancy rate above 50 percent.
The buoyant results for the first quarter remain closely hinged on the resilience of the domestic market with the domestic clientele accounting for an average of 94.7 percent which was hedged by MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions) business.
Bongani Ndlovu