Tourism to Zimbabwe doubles

  The Herald, August 19, 1981

MORE than twice as many people visited Zimbabwe in the first five months of this year than in the same period last year, the latest figures from the Central Statistical Office show. 

If the trend continues, almost 350 000 people will have visited Zimbabwe by the end of the year, the highest since before the liberation war. 

Last year’s total was 268 418, excluding people in transit. 

In May this year, 32 147 people visited Zimbabwe, 809 of them in transit. 

Of the rest, most were holidaymakers — 26 585 — but 4 505 people arrived here on business. Of the visitors, 4 056 stayed for less than 24 hours. 

Visitors from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland were the largest group, with 14 536.

 There were 10 826 from Zambia, 1 540 from Britain and Ireland, and 987 from the Americas. 

About twice as many tourists from South Africa and Botswana and Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland visited Zimbabwe in the first five months of this year than in the same period last year, and more East Africans visited than in the whole of last year. 

The visitors spent an average of 11,7 nights each in Zimbabwe during May and spent almost $2,8 million. 

In May, there were 786 immigrants and 1 606 immigrants. Most immigrants came from the United Kingdom, Zambia, and South Africa. 

British and returning Zimbabwean citizens were the main groups. 

South Africa was still a destination of the bulk of the emigrants with Malawi, Britain, and Australia the only other countries attracting more than 100 people. 

LESSONS FOR TODAY 

• Tourism is a very important sector of the economy as it portrays a positive perception that outsiders have about the country.

• Not only does it bring in much-needed foreign currency, but it also creates jobs and enhances intra-cultural exchanges. 

• The sector is one of the indicators used to gauge the pulse of the economy. The more arrivals that a country receives, the healthier the economy becomes. 

• The country is emerging from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and one of the indicators that things are slowly returning to normal is the return of tourists. 

•  The country has welcomed several international airlines — an indication that the economy is opening up, and the policies in place are impacting positively on various strategies in place.