eBusiness Weekly
Golden Sibanda
Zimbabwe needs to explore measures to come up with hotel accommodation packages that suit all classes of foreign tourists following revelations that a staggering 42 percent of visitors to the country do not use the traditional hotel accommodation.
This is according to findings of the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for 2018, which covered issues like average length of stay, average expenditure per person per trip and average type of accommodation.
The TSA, an accounting procedure to measure goods and services associated with tourism activities in the country, is the product of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Tourism and Hospitality Industry, World Bank, United Nations Tourism Organisation, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency and a technical working group.
According to the TSA, in 2018 Zimbabwe’s tourism sector accounted for 4,25 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the sector raked in US$1,03 billion.
In 2019, the sector accounted for 6,3 percent of GDP with a value of US$1,23 billion.
The data also shows that tourism accounted for 1,56 percent of national employment levels in 2018, with around 100 000 jobs supported and created.
The latest statistics on dynamics within Zimbabwe’s tourism industry show Zimbabwe may be losing significant amounts of potential foreign exchange revenue from one of its key sectors, the third largest after agriculture and mining.
“With regard to the type of accommodation used by tourists, as many as 42 percent did not utilise any accommodation. These included excursionists and visitors who slept in coaches/buses, trucks and churches.
“About 33 percent of the tourists stayed at a friend’s place,” study findings say. Statistics collected for 2017 showed that 81,7 percent of tourists preferred to stay at a friend’s place.
Zimbabwe Council of Tourism chief executive, Paul Matamisa, said industry players were aware of the widespread practice by foreign visitors, adding there was need to pursue measures to address the issue to harness the benefits.
“We know that this is happening, people come and they stay elsewhere (other than hotel facilities), but this happens with many visitors around the world, so it’s not just Zimbabwe affected by this.
“As people look for cheaper facilities, they are moving away from the traditional places that we know, it’s something that is happening the world over, we just have to work towards mitigating what is causing that,” he said.
Accommodation establishments such as commercial homes, bed and breakfast and guest houses provide alternatives to tourists who prefer accommodation other than traditional hotels.
Research findings said given the differences in the product both in terms of acuity and actuality, tourists may choose alternative accommodation that may be different from traditional hotel accommodation.
Study results suggest that there are four or five factors, namely homely atmosphere, value for money, local touch, guest-host relationship and affordability.
These studies influence the tourists to choose alternative accommodation such as guest houses, service apartments, commercial homes, friends’ houses or any other available alternative.
The research findings by experts ScienceDirect established that in terms of value for money, the choice may be explained by the relatively pricesensitive tourists and an overall value for money positioning of the destination.
Matamisa also said the tourism and hospitality industry was quickly recovering from the heavy battering the industry took due to global restrictions on travel necessitated by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is shaping up nicely, it is beginning to improve and we are hoping that if the current trends are maintained, we should be able to go back to the levels where we were before Covid-19 hit us, but it will take a little bit of time,” he said.
He also noted that after nearly two years of hard Covid-19 restrictions, the tourism and hospitality industry was facing serious challenges in accessing affordable long term financing.
International tourism continued its recovery in January 2022, with a much better performance compared to the weak start to 2021, according to UNWTO.
“However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine adds pressure to existing economic uncertainties, coupled with many Covid-related travel restrictions still in place. Overall confidence could be affected and hamper the recovery of tourism,” UNWTO said.
Based on the latest available data, global international tourist arrivals more than doubled (+130 percent) in January 2022 compared to 2021 – the 18 million more visitors recorded worldwide in the first month of this year equals the total increase for the whole of 2021.
TSA statistics also show that 49 percent of tourists spent their money on sports and recreation compared to 11 percent for overnight visitors.
“The average expenditure per trip per person for an overnight domestic trip was estimated at US$25,1 compared to US$17,8 for the same day trip,” the TSA report says.
Overall, the official statistics show that the average expenditure per person, as of 2018, was US$385 for an inbound tourist, but tourists from Oceania, who accounted for only 2 percent of visitors, spent higher at US$1,354 per trip.
