STAFF WRITER • 30 December 2016 9:42AM • 3 comments
HARARE - Zimbabwe’s economy is likely to strengthen due to an anticipated recovery in tourism, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has said.
Zimbabwe, isolated and shunned by the West for suspected human rights abuses under President Robert Mugabe, has recently made steady gains in tourism.
Holiday bookings and inquiries have been rising, pointing to a potential recovery in the sector in the months ahead.
Data from the ZTA shows Zimbabwe’s tourist arrivals for the first quarter 2016 increased by 16 percent to 450 572 compared to 387 557 in 2015 same period, driven by increased arrivals from all source regions except for Oceania.
“It is going a long way to support the foreign exchange because of the positive sentiments, the inflows that are coming in, the tourists and the general investor confidence which helps in reversing any expectation about the future of our economy,” the ZTA said.
In terms of accommodation, the national average hotel room occupancy rate decreased to 36 percent from 38 percent.
Harare had the highest average room occupancy rate of 53 percent followed by Victoria Falls, Midlands, Mutare, Vumba and Nyanga.
Tourism collapsed after Mugabe began a forcible take-over of white-owned farms about a decade ago. Political violence and an economic meltdown kept tourists away from the country’s nature preserves and its gateway to the Victoria Falls.