Zimbabwe recorded a 6% increase in tourism in the first quarter of this year. While this is good news, the worrying statistic is the 27% drop in visitors from our main market, South Africa.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
Traditionally, tourists from South Africa would drive into the country through Beitbridge, visit the Matopos or Great Zimbabwe on their way to Victoria Falls or sometimes even Nyanga.
However, the sharp drop in arrivals from South Africa shows that there is something Zimbabwe is doing very wrong and needs to correct it very soon before it is too late.
For starters, the upgrading and improvement of systems at the Beitbridge Border Post is one thing that has been highlighted for years, but hardly enough is being done.
About 10 years ago, just before South Africa hosted the Football World Cup, there was a realisation that many visitors to that country could be drawn into visiting Zimbabwe and there was need to spruce up and quicken processing of human and vehicular traffic at Beitbridge.
A committee of government bureaucrats was set up and since then little or nothing was heard from it.
A decade down the line, Beitbridge has hardly improved or in fact it has become even worse and this does not bode well for tourists coming into the country. Another more contemporary subject is the issue of the numerous roadblocks.
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Someone driving from South Africa to Victoria Falls via Great Zimbabwe will encounter no less than 20 roadblocks and this is frustrating and may discourage future visits.
We have voiced our concern over roadblocks, but it seems the powers that be are paying lip service to an issue that is affecting Zimbabwe’s marketability and its ability to earn money from tourists.
Exit surveys have shown that many tourists are not happy with roadblocks and that is one of the main reasons they will not recommend Zimbabwe as a tourist destination.
The government has seen these surveys, but it is not moved to act on their recommendations and sadly this is dragging the country down.
Arguments on the need for numerous roadblocks are not convincing and cynics are convinced the checkpoints are nothing more than a fund-raising initiative.
Contrary to what authorities say, numerous police officers on the roads does not convey a message of safety, but that of insecurity and volatility, which needs the law enforcement agents to be always visible.
With the roadblocks and failure to fix up Beitbridge and our road network, we are shooting ourselves in the foot as a country and in the long run, we have more to lose than gain.
