Tourist arrivals in the first half of the year grew by 7% to 930 276 driven by the rise in mainland Africa, although the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) believes the number could be higher if cumbersome Visa processes are removed.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
In the same period last year, arrivals were at 867 163.
“Arrivals from mainland Africa registered 811 717 foreign tourist arrivals, up from 745 566 in 2014 representing a 9% increase. To a large extent, the increase in arrivals from South Africa (38%) boosted the rise in arrivals from Mainland Africa due to the big market share it commands,” ZTA said.
Africa contributed the biggest chunk to arrivals at 87%, Europe was a distant second at 6%. Americas had 3% of the market share, Oceanic and Asia had 2% apiece while Middle East contributed 0,2% to arrivals.
Arrivals from Europe declined by 1% from the same period last year, with declines in major markets that included France, Germany, Italy, Nordic countries and Spain pulling down the overall performance of the region.
“The arrivals fell from 60 530 in 2014 to 60 021in 2015. The European market share stood at 6% down 1% from 7% in 2014. Europe remains the greatest overseas market for the country,” ZTA said.
Arrivals from the Asian market fell by 8% to 14 999 from 16 370 in 2014 with Japan and South Korea (the major markets) declining too. However, arrivals from China rose by 46% during the period under review.
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ZTA said the bulk of the Chinese coming through the Harare International Airport was for business purposes.
“It is important to note that cumbersome visa procedures have been the major inhibiting factor for the growth of this market in Zimbabwe. Steps are already underway to improve the visa regime so as to attract more from this global outbound giant,” ZTA said.
ZTA said the Americas continued to be the second greatest overseas region for Zimbabwe since 2014.
“Arrivals from the Americas, like most other regions, fell by 11% from 30 373 in 2014 to 27 117. This decline was largely a result of the pulling down effect of the fall in United States of America by 16 %,” the authority said.
Despite the up-tick in arrivals, average hotel room occupancy level was 41% down from 42% recorded in the same period last year weighed down by declines in Masvingo, Nyanga and Mutare.
Masvingo is largely dependent on domestic tourism and on average these constitute 92% of clients in accommodation facilities.
“Conferencing business greatly influences utilisation of facilities. Unfortunately, the current economic hardships have had an adverse impact on conferencing. On the contrary, Kariba and Hwange experienced positive growth in occupancies,” ZTA said.
