Travel, tourism to grow 4,4pc

Senior Business Reporter
THE World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) have projected a 4,4 percent growth of the local tourism sector this year on the back of strong demand from international markets. WTTC is a global authority on the economic and social contribution of travel and tourism. It promotes sustainable growth for the industry, working with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity.

According to the global industry body the sector last year supported 98,329 jobs (8,2 percent of total employment.
“Travel and tourism in Zimbabwe will grow 4,4 percent during 2014. In 2013, Zimbabwe’s total contribution of travel and tourism to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was $857,9 million (11, 4 percent of GDP),” the WTTC said.

“Travel and tourism investment was $62,3 million or 6 percent of total investment and this year, it is projected to rise by 4,5 percent.”
WTTC said last year the travel and tourism sector globally contributed $7 trillion to the economy and is expected to grow by 4,3 percent in 2014.

Zimbabwe was last year ranked as the second most preferred destination for family-oriented safari tourism in Africa by a London based global market research firm, Euro Monitor International.

Well known for its pleasant climate, the country has been experiencing increased inflows of tourists from countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Far East.

International tourist arrivals in all global destinations grew by 5 percent in 2013, reaching a record 1.067 billion arrivals compared to 2012 arrivals of 1.035 billion with demand for international tourism strongest for destinations in Asia and the Pacific, Africa and Europe.

WTC president and chief executive officer David Scow said the sector’s contribution to the world economy grew for the fourth consecutive year in 2013, helped especially by strong demand from international travellers.

“Visitor exports, the measure of money spent by these international tourists, rose by 3.9 percent at a global level year-on-year, to $1.3 trillion, and by over 10 percent within South East Asia,” he said.

“It is clear that the growth in travel and tourism demand from emerging markets continues with pace, as the burgeoning middle-classes, especially from Asia and Latin America, are willing and more able than ever to travel both within and beyond their borders.

“The outlook for travel and tourism for the next ten years looks extremely favourable, with growth forecast of more than 4 percent annually. This will require governments to implement more open visa regimes and to adopt intelligent rather than punitive taxation policies.”

He added that it was also critical that public and private partnerships ensure that long-term infrastructure and human resource needs were planned responsibly and sustainably, to absorb the inevitable growth being predicted.