Harare, (New Ziana) – The number of foreign visitors to Zimbabwe seeking business opportunities increased by over 200 percent during the first quarter of this year, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) has reported.
This as the number of visitors coming into the country by end of last March nearly doubled to 404 979 compared to the previous year’s 211 054, an 83.2 percent increase.
Zimbabwe sits at 140 out of 190 economies assessed in the last World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report, an improvement from 155 in 2019 after the Second Republic adopted the Zimbabwe is open for business policy.
In its quarterly International migration statistics report for the first three months of the year, ZimStat said among the 409 979 visitors from abroad, those arriving for business purposes increased by 204.7 percent from quarter ending March 2023 to first quarter of 2024. The number increased from 39 772 to 121 174 in the quarters under review.
“The proportion of visitors who came for holiday was 37.5 percent. During the first quarter of 2024, there were 108 852 in-transit visitors compared to 73 460 during the same quarter in 2023 representing an increase of 47.6 percent. The number of arriving visitors who came for business purposes increased by 204.7 percent from quarter ending March 2023 to first quarter of 2024. The number increased from 39 772 to 121 174 in the quarters under review,” the ZimStat report said.
Of the 851 592 arrivals this year, returning residents make up 52.8 percent, the highest proportion of arrivals while there were 221 immigrants compared to 98 last year.
The majority, 270 776 which is 66.9 percent of arriving visitors used road transport to enter Zimbabwe, while 33.1 percent (134 107) arrived by air.
The volume of visitors who arrived by air increased by 171.6 percent from 49 369 in the first quarter of 2023 and the majority of visitors who used air came through Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare (96 658) followed by Victoria Falls Airport (30 840) and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo (6 102).
During the 2023 first quarter, 171 419 arrivals were recorded at road ports of entry with the majority coming into the country through Beitbridge Border Post (78 989) followed by Victoria Falls Road (51 475).
Of the 404 979 visitors from abroad during the quarter under review and besides those coming on business others were tourists on holiday, in-transit, business, educational and shopping.
The proportion of visitors who came for holiday was 37.5 percent. There were 108 852 in-transit visitors compared to 73 460 during the same quarter in 2023 representing an increase of 47.6 percent. Visitors who came to Zimbabwe for educational purposes in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 10 516.6 percent from the first quarter of 2023. There were 12 596 education visitors in the quarter ending March 2024 compared to 2 043 for the same quarter in 2023.
The number of holiday visitors increased from a figure of 102 790 in the first quarter of 2023 to 151 964 for the quarter ending March 2024 showing an increase of 47.8 percent. 4.6 shopping accounted for 10 793 visitors up from 2 989 the previous quarter representing a 261.1 percent increase.
During first quarter of 2024 there were 153 749 arriving visitors whose country of last permanent residence was in Africa compared to 55 335 in 2023 a 177.9 percent increase with the majority coming from neighbouring South Africa (50,662) followed by Mozambique (35 153) and Zambia (23 841).
