Harare (New Ziana)- The number of tourists arriving in Zimbabwe increased by more than 27 percent during the second quarter of this year as the engagement and re-engagement drive which the government led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been pursuing since it assumed office in 2017 start to bear fruits.

Presenting the 2023 second quarter international migration statistics in the capital on Tuesday, Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency director general Taguma Mahonde said the proportion of visitors from abroad who came for holiday in the country increased by 27.8 percent during the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year.

“The country recorded a total of 987 524 arrivals during the second quarter of this year. 60.4 percent were returning residents, 30.58 percent were visitors from abroad,” he said.

Mahonde said the number of visitors from abroad increased by 43.6 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, whilst the number of returning residents increased by 162 percent over the same period last year.

Those who came for business increased by 26.2 percent, with those who visited the country for the purpose of education recording the highest number of 172.2 percent, whilst those that visited for shopping increased by 71.9 percent.

Mahonde said South Africa accounted for the majority of visitors during the period under review accounting for 21.5 percent, followed by Zambia and Mozambique who stood at 12.9 percent and 10.7 percent respectively.

At least 74.9 percent of visitors used road transport when entering the country during the period while 25.1 percent came by air traffic.

Of the visitors that used air transport, 51.8 percent entered through the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, while 41.9 percent passed through the Victoria Falls Airport and 5.6 percent through the Joshua Nkomo Airport, said Mahonde.

At least 30.7 percent of the visitors who used road transport passed through Beitbridge, he said.
New Ziana