After experiencing a major recession over the past seven years, Zimbabwe's tourism industry is showing signs of recovery.

The most obvious evidence of the pickup is perhaps that the tourist arrivals to the country in the first half of this year increased by 33 percent compared with the same period of last year, which means that more than 1 million tourists visited Zimbabwe during the period.

Many of world famous recreational resorts and sightseeing spots in Zimbabwe have seen an increasing number of visitors since the beginning of the year, with full booking in hotels and lodges in these places at the peak time of tourism in the first half of the year.

There are, of course, other good signs for the industry's recovery. One of them was that by extending marketing strategies to the East, Zimbabwe has been making moves to feed off China's approved tourism destination status, which will see more Chinese visitors in the country in the coming years.

In spite of the campaigns of negative branding by some countries like the United States by issuing travel warnings alarming their nationals not to visit Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe scooped the Global Destination and Most Visited Stand Awards at the Kuwait International Fair in May this year, which was a sign that the international tourism industry recognizes Zimbabwe as a secure travel destination.

The Global Destination and Most Visited Stand awards confirmed Zimbabwe's unrivaled status as a premier destination with the Victoria Falls, the resplendent Great Zimbabwe, the Eastern Highlands and vibrant wildlife sanctuaries teeming with game, analysts said.

This was also evident in the visit by the two Saudi princes, Abdulazziz and Mohammed Salman Al Saud, who were in Zimbabwe for 30 days visiting various tourist attractions in June this year.

Analysts said the royal visit showed that Zimbabwe has managed to divest the negative image foisted on it by sections of the Western media following the fallout between Harare and London over the land reform program.

The fieldwork by Xinhua reporter recently also showed that most of the foreign visitors in Zimbabwe do not believe in the reports of travel warnings.

"My daughter told me that it was dangerous to travel to this country. but I came and it is safer than any other places I have visited," said an American woman named Ashley at the Azambezi River Lodge at Victoria Falls. She said the media sometimes do not tell the truth.
 
At the Sikumi Tree Lodge, Eugnio Garcia, a Spanish, and Joyce Smiwie, a Scottish, who were on the way of going game at the Hwange National Park, said it (Zimbabwe) was a safe place to visit. "People here were very friendly and the going game was exciting," they said.

In the Great Zimbabwe, a World Heritage, a young couple of travelers from Holland told the reporter that they were driving from South Africa and they did not meet any trouble on their way. "It is a nice country to visit," they said.

Stakeholders believed that this was a vote of confidence in Zimbabwe and a major blow for the Western propaganda machinery that tried to erode international tourist confidence in the country.

Meanwhile, the local tourism sector has been the enunciation of a comprehensive marketing strategy, which is expected to give the sector a cutting edge. And then came recent measures to redevelop major hotspots in the Lowveld with a view to unlocking their tourism potential.
 
Just last week, President Robert Mugabe, along with his Mozambican and South African counterparts, Armando Guebuza and Thabo Mbeki, officially opened the Giriyondo Tourist Access Facility. It is expected to be a significant step for Zimbabwe as it gears to rebound to the pinnacle of tourism, the analysts said.

Although these successes have not yet been translated to figures, pointers are there that the tourism sector has picked up, they said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2006)