Zimbabwe’s tourism sector lost $690 million due to the COVID-19 induced global travelling restrictions from early 2020.
The state-owned Chronicle newspaper reports that the country’s first National Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) said the pandemic led to a massive fall in visitors.
Tourism accounted for 4.25% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) with a value of $1,03 billion in 2018.
“In 2019 the sector accounted for 6.3% of GDP with a value of $1,23 billion. At the same time, the data also shows that tourism accounted for 1,56% of national employment levels in 2018, with around 100 000 jobs supported and created.”
The TSA was produced as part of the Zimbabwe Destination Development Programme, which is backed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.
It records the number of tourists visiting Zimbabwe and provides data on monetary and non-monetary tourism data.