Rudo Saungweme
Zimbabwe is a peaceful country that attracts a number of tourists internationally. International buyers in the country for the Sanganai Hlanganani World Tourism Expo described Zimbabwe as a world class tourist destination. It is because of its beauty and hospitality that makes it viable for tourists to always find their way here in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is known for its unique natural sites which keep attracting tourists. The stunning landscapes and great weather are among the many reasons why Zimbabwe is worth a visit.
Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) listed a number of tourist attraction places in Zimbabwe. On its website, it posted that, “Zimbabwe is a famous tourist destination in Africa and boasts a number of internationally renowned tourist attractions and a favourable year round weather conditions.”
“The best known and biggest is the Victoria Falls where the Zambezi River plunges into a 106 meter deep gorge which runs for 1.6km across the path of the river. The Victoria Falls town has a number of world famous hotels, with all facilities such as golf courses, game drivers and river cruises.”
“The town and surrounding area have been declared a National Park mainly to preserve it from over-commercialisation. To cater for the modern tourist white water rafting and canoeing are available, as well as bungee jumping from the bridge across the gorge. The water rafting world championships, held regularly on the Zambezi River, attract teams from many countries.”
This alone shows that tourism in Zimbabwe attracts the international world. The criticism that comes from USA and the opposition in the country only wants to frustrate our Government in its efforts to up lift the tourism industry in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe still enjoys the bulk of tourists tickling in the country despite all the criticism.
It is not so long ago when our all weather friends the Chinese visited our country to appreciate the beauty and everything that is in Zimbabwe. The Chinese tourists totalled 343 in number.
The visit which had one of the largest tourist delegations in the country was in line with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) Destination Zimbabwe initiative which seeks to bring at least 100 000 tourists from the populous Asian country in the next five years.
Zimbabwe’s tourism industry continue to boom despite criticism from the opposition and its allies.
The United States of America recently issued a notice titled “Zimbabwe Travel Advisory, Level 2: Exercise Caution,” The notice leaves a lot to be desired. One could tell that it is just a way of misleading tourists coming from across the world.
USA knows of Zimbabwe’s strength and tries by all means to denigrate it, but its efforts will not go anyway because everyone is aware of the good that comes from visiting Zimbabwe.
Part of the advisory in the USA notice reads, “Violent crime, such as assault, carjacking, and home invasion, is common. Smashing the windows of cars with the intent to steal, which can harm the driver or passengers, is also common. Local police lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents. Read the safety and security section on the country information page.”
The Chinese visit was made possible by a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Zimbabwe’s tourism ministry and the Touch Road International Holdings group in China signed in 2018.
Officials at the ZTA said since the signing of the agreement, there has been an increase in Chinese arrivals in the country, from 14 407 tourism in 2017 to 19 428 last year and the figure is expected to rise courtesy of the MOU.
Tourism representative body, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, is projecting a growth in tourist arrivals for the year 2019 from the 2.7 million (the largest amount of arrivals received in the last 19 years) arrivals generated in the year last year.
