By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi says Zimbabwe is poised to achieve the USD5 billion tourism economy by 2025 spurred by enabling infrastructure including airports and road network.
Rwodzi announced this during the launch of World Tourism Month Celebrations in Harare saying Zimbabwe’s tourism recovery since the Covid-19 lockdown was on course.
“The celebrations are coming on the background of renewed global tourism recovery with Zimbabwe also experiencing significant growth over the 2023/2024 period.
“The first half of the year saw the country’s tourism sector demonstrating significant growth, with international arrivals increasing by 27% to 751,483, up from 592,567 in the same period in 2023. Correspondingly, tourism receipts saw a 24% rise, reaching US$493 million compared to US$398 million in the first half of 2023.
“The sector continues to be a vital contributor to Zimbabwe’s economy, accounting for approximately 5.7% of GDP and 3.5% of national employment, underscoring its pivotal role in driving economic development and job creation,” Rwodzi said.
Rwodzi said the ongoing investment into the tourism sector coupled with improvement in the enabling infrastructure including airports and road network improvement is bound to spur Zimbabwe in achieving the USD5 billion tourism economy by 2025.
Zimbabwe dubbed the Month of September as the Tourism Month to raise awareness on the importance of Tourism by organising a number of activities that build-up to the main World Tourism Day celebrations on 27 September.
The theme for this year’s World Tourism Day is “Tourism and Peace”.
The 1st of September marks the beginning of the 2024 World Tourism Month. Among the events for the month is the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo which will be held in Bulawayo during the period 11 to 13 September.
The event brings both local and international communities to come and showcase their products.
Side events will also be taking place during the period such as, MICE Master class, Tourism investment forum, Tourism scholastic, gastronomy hub, among others.
This will be followed by a Tourism Symposium to be held at Lupane State University on 19 September where papers will be presented on how Tourism contributes to national and global Peace.
After the Symposium there will be a Sport tournament on the 21 September in Gokwe Kabuyani Constituency aimed at promoting Sports Tourism.
The Tourism Month will be concluded by the World Tourism Day Main Celebrations on the 27th of September 2024 at Gandavaroyi Gorge, in Gokwe Gumunyu Constituency, a hidden gem in Midlands Province.
The Main Celebrations are hosted by Provinces on rotational basis and this year Midlands Province is the host of 2024 World Tourism Day.
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