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Zim, SA overland tours up 35 percent

19 Oct, 2018 - 00:10 0 Views
Zim, SA overland  tours up 35 percent Most overland visitors use Zimbabwe’s busiest port of entry, Beitbridge

eBusiness Weekly

Thupeyo Muleya
There has been a 35 percent increase in the number of tourists participating in overland tours in Zimbabwe and coming through South Africa since the beginning of this year, latest official statistics have shown.Most of the overland visitors use Zimbabwe’s busiest port of entry, Beitbridge to access the country’s tourist destinations including on their way to the Victoria Falls.

The number of overland tourists has been surging since the new Dispensation led by President Mnangagwa came to power and embarked on a massive re-engagement programme and opened the country to foreign investors in line with the “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra.

Statistics from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) show that an average of 80 000 new tourists arrive in the country via Beitbridge border post monthly.

The visits are facilitated by travel agencies from both Zimbabwe and South Africa. Upon arrival at Beitbridge, the visitors are assisted by ZTA for a smooth passage.

In separate interviews this week,  travel agencies from South Africa said they have been receiving overwhelming responses mainly by visitors from the United States of America, Britain, Canada and Australia other European and American countries, who seek to join the overland tours.

“I am from Cape Town. For the last five years I have worked as a tour guide with several groups of tourists. The Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park and Great Zimbabwe Ruins seem to be getting a lot of interest from tourists,” said Mr Julan Hepple of G-Adventures.

“We bring in a mixture of people from Canada, America, and Europe. We are having the Discover South Africa and Zimbabwe tours at least twice per month. The number of participants on our waiting list has increased this year by 35 percent. We are working on including the Eastern Highlands on our package”.

He said most of the tourists were impressed with the level of border efficiency systems on the Zimbabwe  side of Beitbridge.

Hepple said the majority of their clients had promised to visit again on private tours.

A Zimbabwean tour guide based in the neighbouring country, Mr Lesley Mukwacha said they were happy to receive a lot of new tourists on each overland tour.

“The package includes a number of tourists’ attractions in the two countries especially the Kruger National Park (South Africa) and Victoria Falls and Great Zimbabwe Ruins . As a result of aggressive marketing, the number of new participants from overseas is impressive,” he said.

Mr Jon Pretorius said they had noted a sudden change in the trend in people intending to visit Zimbabwe.

“I have been driving tourists from South Africa in the last seven years and recently we have been busy with many people expressing willingness to visit this country (Zimbabwe). There are a lot of tourists’ attractions here awaiting explorations,” he said.

Other than the overland tours, the governments of Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa have been successfully holding the annual Tour de Tuli and the Wild Run tourism expeditions in the Greater Mapungubwe Trans-frontier Conservation Area.

The week-long events which attract 580 tourists from across the globe have been growing by 23 percent yearly.

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