Vic Falls records increase in tourist arrivals

Published: 25 July 2013

THE resort town of Victoria Falls has recorded an upsurge of tourist arrivals ahead of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly next month.

The town has in the past month witnessed an unexpected influx of hundreds of Japanese tourists - a first for the country as traditionally tourist arrivals from the Asian country start in August.

Zimbabwe and Zambia are co-hosting the general assembly from 24 to 29 August in Victoria Falls and Livingstone respectively.

In an interview yesterday, Silver Tours managing director Mr Israel Rupiya said the co-hosting of the tourism indaba in August had resulted in some tourists deciding to visit the country early.

"This is really good for Victoria Falls as the upsurge of arrivals especially from tourists coming in from Japan has given us a good run for our money. We are also up and about in a way rehearsing for the tourism indaba," said Mr Rupiya.

He said the Japanese influx had put a jump to the statistics on international tourist arrivals for the resort town.

"The arrival of these tourists this early is attributed to the wide publicity given to Victoria Falls ahead of the general assembly. These Japanese are not the traditional ones, but are those who used to go elsewhere and decided to come to Victoria Falls after seeing the positive publicity about the resort town," he said.

Zambezi Explorer marketing director Mr Charles Chakanya said the outlook for the tourism sector was positive adding that they were receiving a lot of enquiries from travel agencies from all over.

Last week, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief operating officer Mr Givemore Chidzidzi attributed the increase in arrivals in the resort town to the tourism indaba.

He said this was a clear indication that the country's tourism sector was headed in the right direction in terms of growth.
- chronicle