Zimbabwe registered a 115% increase in tourist arrivals during the first half of 2022 to 352,719 compared with the same period in 2021, according to a budget statement presented by the country’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube.
He said domestic visits to the national parks also rose by 90% from 90,909 in 2021 to 172,481 in the first five months of 2022.
“As a result, the tourism receipts increased by 121% in 2022 to $337.5 million, compared to the same period last year,” said Ncube.
“The tourism industry is expected to continue to grow in the outlook, benefiting from the recovery in international tourism, coming in of new players in the aviation sector and meetings, 108 incentives, conferences and exhibitions.”
The finance minister said tourist arrivals are expected to increase to 1.4 million in 2023, whilst tourism receipts are projected at $623 million.
Meanwhile, Harare said it will next year increase marketing and promotion efforts through the deployment of tourism attachés at its embassies to aggressively promote destination Zimbabwe in key source markets that include China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“The deployment of attachés will be complemented by active participation at flagship regional and international tourism meetings, conferences and exhibitions, marketing and promoting Zimbabwe’s tourism to the world through promotion programmes like Visit Zimbabwe, Meet in Zimbabwe and Invest In Zimbabwe campaigns,” said Ncube.
“The sector will undertake image building and promotion through hosting of tourism opinion leaders and influencers, as well as organising familiarisation tours for media houses from key international tourist source markets.”
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