ZIMBABWE: Surprise uppick in tourism sector fails to rescue Zimbabwe from economic malaise

Record ID: 455463

  • Title: ZIMBABWE: Surprise uppick in tourism sector fails to rescue Zimbabwe from economic malaise
  • Date: 22nd September 2007
  • Summary: VICTORIA FALLS MONKEY TOURISTS WALKING VICTORIA FALLS (GOOD SHOT) TOURISTS VICTORIA FALLS HOTEL
  • Embargoed: 7th October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zimbabwe
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Topics: Economic News,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVABDODLARPTQH7M7L3NDHI2HGOJ
  • Story Text: The Victoria Falls, a UNESCO world heritage site, has long attracted tourists to Zimbabwe. But negative publicity from a government land grab and the political and economic crisis that followed had seen numbers drop dramatically, with many tourists opting instead to travel to neighbouring Zambia.
    Before 2000, an estimated 2 million visitors arrived in Zimbabwe annually. That number dropped dramatically until 2005 when earnings from the industry were 98 million US dollars, from 340 million US dollars in 1999, a drop of more than 70 percent. Last year the picture began to change and this year, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Zimbabwe's Tourism Authority, Karikoga Kaseke, things are looking up.
    "The tourism sector is currently on the growth path, its really on the recovery path, we admit from 2000 up to 2005 we witnessed a decline of tourism arrivals year in year out," said Kaseke. This year the figures changed and the sector has seen a 33% increase, a figure which translates to over 1 million, compared to last year. The tourists are mainly from Europe.
    "We are still to achieve the yesteryear figures, the 1999 figures from most of our markets, but markets like Germany, markets like Spain, markets like those from the Scandinavian countries, we find a situation we are almost as we were, pre 2000," said Kaseke.
    Zimbabwe has been in the media limelight ever since President Robert Mugabe began controversial land grabs to reduce the huge proportion of Zimbabwean land owned by whites. In 1999, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended aid to the country while western governments quietly followed suit in 2001.
    The country embarked on an aggressive marketing strategy, targeting the Eastern market especially China. A travel expo held in 2006 aimed at portraying the country as a safe tourist destination.
    "We are very happy that we seem to be moving ahead of our targets, maybe we underestimated our targets maybe because we were influenced by what was happening, the negative publicity and the travel warnings we talked about, but if we look at what's happening now, we are operating ahead of our target," said Kaseke.
    While sceptics may point to a rise in the number of Asian tourists, who tend to spend less money than their European and American counterparts, and an increase in visits by former Zimbabweans, now with foreign passports, there is growing optimism in the private tourist sector too.
    At the premises of Elephant Experience, near Victoria Falls, a new building is going up. Elephant Experience is a company that offers tourists a once-in-a-lifetime experience: viewing game from the back of an African elephant.
    Richard Pascall, the company's manager, is optimistic about the future Zimbabwe's tourist sector.
    "We have a lot of confidence in the long-term future of tourism in our country Zimbabwe, we really do," he said.
    Pascall outlined his future plans for the company.
    "What we envisage is when our guests arrive, they will come here they will be welcomed in this building, they will then be mounted on the elephants then go across this wall here with the water behind, with the water hole behind them then drive into the wildlife area," said Pascall.
    But, Pascall is quick to admit that severe food shortages could put a damper on the industry's ability to bounce back.
    "The challenges are shortages, the general shortages that are prevalent throughout Zimbabwe now. We're short of meat, we're short of sugar, we're short of real basics that you need to be able to entertain international guests. We are short of even, too, locally manufactured beers and cold drinks.
    We are having a hard time getting them," said Pascall.
    An inflation rate of around 6000% and rampant fuel shortages are hardly small obstacles either.
    A lot of work goes into the care of the elephants and tourists are encouraged to help.
    "What we do is we ride twice a day, usually early morning, then late afternoon and that is because of the coolness of the day, because the weather gets very hot here and also for grazing purposes, the elephants we keep them in the stables to keep them away from the wild elephant and to see that we got control over them, but during the day after the ride, after the morning ride they go out and graze," said Pascall.
    The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority now says it hopes to achieve a target of 5 million tourists by the year 2010.
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