Zimbabwe Records Rise in Chinese Tourists, but Challenges Remain

Tourist arrivals from China to Zimbabwe have risen considerably, however the southern African country remains largely unknown in China because of absence of market presence, tourism experts said.

Release time : 2018-10-11 10:51:20

source : ECNS

Tourist arrivals from China to Zimbabwe have risen considerably, however the southern African country remains largely unknown in China because of absence of market presence, tourism experts said.

Latest statistics from tourism promotion body, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), showed that within the first half of 2018, tourist arrivals from the China recorded a 23 percent increase, with 7,296 travelers compared to 5,935 for the same period in 2017. A total of 14,407 Chinese visited Zimbabwe in 2017, representing a 57 percent improvement from 9,164 in 2016.

Trends during the past 14 years reveal that tourist arrivals from China have generally been growing every year, except in 2005, 2012, and 2015 when arrivals dropped sharply.

Jeffreys Manjengwa, ZTA's director of international marketing, said despite employing various strategies and efforts to woo Chinese tourists, Zimbabwe remained a relatively unknown tourist destination in China.

"Zimbabwe is still unknown in China and there is need to invest more resources for destination marketing programs in collaboration with key stakeholders promoting business to Africa," he told China Daily. "The ZTA anticipates that government under the new dispensation will provide adequate funding for destination marketing in all source markets of the world."

Deputy chairman of the Chinese Federation of Zimbabwe, Steve Zhao, who runs a travel agency, said Chinese tourists knew very little about Zimbabwe but added that tourism traffic between the two countries has spiked by at least 30 percent this year.

"At the moment, there are not many challenges in bringing Chinese tourists to Zimbabwe. The government recently sorted the issue of visas. Chinese tourists no longer need to apply for visas before they come. They can do it at the port of entry," said Zhao, whose company hopes to bring over 15,000 Chinese visitors this year.

Since its transformation from a third world country into the