Zimbabwe recorded a 7% upsurge in international tourist arrivals, despite a sharp decrease experienced by all other markets.
The jump in international tourist arrivals is attributed to the rise of tourist arrivals in mainland Africa.
“During the first half of the year, the country recorded 930,276 international tourist arrivals signifying a 63, 000 increase from the number recorded last year during the same period,” revealed Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) in a statement.
According to statistics released yesterday by ZTA arrivals from mainland Africa registered a 9 % increase from the 745,566 recorded in 2014.
“The increase in arrivals from South Africa (38%) boosted the rise in arrivals from Mainland Africa due the big market share it commands,” said ZTA
Europe remains the greatest overseas market for the country regardless of the decline in arrivals.
“Arrivals from Europe fell slightly by 1% with declines in major markets including France, Germany, Italy, Nordic Countries and Spain pulling down the overall performance of the region,” said ZTA.
Arrivals from Europe fell by 509 visits from the 60,530 recorded in 2014 .
Arrivals from the Asian market fell by 8% from 16,370 recorded visits in 2014 with Japan and South Korea (the major markets) declining too.
However, despite the fall in Asian Market, the country recorded a 46 % increase in the number of Chinese arrivals.
‘Research has shown that 81% of the Chinese arrivals entered through Harare International Airport, followed by Victoria Falls border with 6%, Victoria Falls airport with 5% and Kazungula with 3%,” reads the statement.
Arrivals from the Americas, like most other regions, fell by 11% from 30,373 visits recorded in 2014.
This decline was largely a result of the pulling down effect of the fall in United States of America by 16 %.
Oceania registered a 26% increase from 11,575 arrivals in 2014. Its market share stood at 2% up from 1% in first half 2014.
“The Middle East continues to trail behind in its contribution to total arrivals into the country contributing less than 1% of the market share. The region recorded a 33% fall in the first half of the year,” said ZTA.
On accommodation, ZTA revealed that hotel room occupancy shed 1 percentage point from 42% in the first half of the year 2015.
According to data released by ZTA, the occupancies were largely pulled down by declines in Masvingo, Nyanga and Mutare.
On the contrary, Kariba and Hwange experienced positive growth in occupancies. Kariba had a significant increase of 11% which is attributed to improved access by Air Zimbabwe in the resort.
Moving forward the country is already working towards improving the Visa regime so as to attract more arrivals.
ZTA noted cumbersome visa procedures as the major inhibiting factor for the growth of international tourist arrivals in Zimbabwe.
