‘Zim should tap into top tourism markets’

Zimbabwe should tap into key tourism source markets, namely China, the United States and the Kingdom, if the county is to remain a top tourist destination on the continent. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has announced the three countries — China, the United States and the United Kingdom — as the leading source markets that drove outbound tourism last year.

This was on the back of these countries’ strong currencies and economies.

Zimbabwe launched its introductory National Tourism Policy in 2014, with Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Engineer Walter Mzembi stating at the time that by the year 2020, the country’s tourism sector should be a $5 billion economy, attracting at least 5 million arrivals annually and contributing 15 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

And earlier in March Zimbabwe’s Department of Immigration moved 37 countries including China, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Algeria, Turkey and Cuba from Category C to Category B in respect of the visa regime in a move aimed at boosting the tourism sector.

The Zimbabwe migration management system comprises a three-tier model classified into categories A, B and C. Category A refers to countries whose nationals are exempt from visa requirements while those in Category B obtain visas at the port of entry. And Category C nationals are required to apply for visas prior to travel.

But if the local tourism sector is to achieve such a target then the authorities simply need to do more in respect of putting in place measures and strategies to ensure that they tap into key tourism outbound markets (especially for the market such as the Chinese one).

According to the UNWTO, China continues to lead global outbound travel after double-digit growth in tourism expenditure every year since 2004, benefiting Asian destinations such as Japan and Thailand as well as the United States and various European destinations. Spending by Chinese travellers increased 25 percent last year to reach $292 billion, as total outbound travellers rose 10 percent to 128 million. But other key markets cannot be ignored.

Tourism expenditure from the world’s second largest source market, the United States, increased by 9 percent last year to $120 billion, while the number of outbound travellers grew by 8 percent to 73 million.

And expenditure from the United Kingdom, the fourth largest market globally, increased 8 percent to $63 billion with 65 million of its residents travelling abroad, up 9 percent.

By contrast Germany, the world’s third largest market, reported a small decline in spending ($76 billion), partly due to the weaker euro, while France’s expenditure on outbound tourism reached $38 billion, Russia’s $35 billion and that of the Republic of Korea a total of $25 billion.

Meanwhile, according to UNWTO, international tourism receipts in destinations around the world grew by 3,6 percent last year, in line with the 4,4 percent increase in international arrivals.

“For the fourth consecutive year, international tourism grew faster than world merchandise trade, raising tourism’s share in world’s exports to 7 percent in 2015. The total export value from international tourism amounted to $1, 4 trillion,” said the global tourism body. — BH24.