‘Covid-19 erodes US$690m tourism earnings’
THE Covid-19-induced global travel restrictions have cost the country’s tourism sector an estimated US$690 million as the destination suffered reduced demand for leisure services due to reduced traffic.
According to the country’s first National Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), which was officially launched last week, Zimbabwe is among the countries whose tourism industry suffered heavily due to Covid-19.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation partnered with the Ministry of environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry to launch the TSA system, which measures the size and significance of the tourism sector for the Zimbabwean economy.
The findings are based on the last available pre-Covid-19 data and on data gathered before the formal transition of national currency from US dollar into the Zimbabwean dollar.
“Tourism in Zimbabwe has been significantly impacted by the pandemic, with the introduction of travel restrictions and lower demand from tourists leading to a massive fall in visitors. The loss to the national economy is estimated at US$690 million,” reads part of the post-launch summary report shared with Business Chronicle. “The TSA revealed that tourism accounted for 4,25 percent of the National Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) with a value of US$1,03 billion in 2018.
“In 2019 the sector accounted for 6,3 percent of GDP with a value of US$1,23 billion. At the same time, 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 TSA was produced as part of the Zimbabwe Destination Development Programme, a technical assistance programme supported by the World bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The system is also meant to record the number of tourists visiting the country and provides monetary and non-monetary tourism data related to demand and supply.
It measures the value of expenditure on goods and services across all types of tourism as well as the value of tourism-sector industries producing goods and/or services. Going forward, the TSA will be useful in quantifying tourism’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product and national employment rates.
Commenting on the initiative, IFC’s country manager, Adamou Labara said: “These empirical findings highlight the opportunity for policy makers in Zimbabwe to support recovery of the tourism sector through stimulating traveller demand, and responsibly reducing barriers to entry.”
By addressing information gaps and supporting a data-driven approach to policy development and investment decisions, the TSA is expected to prove particularly relevant to Zimbabwe’s tourism sector as it works towards sustainable recovery and growth from the impacts of the pandemic.
The development of the TSA is one of the key milestone projects for the tourism sector under the National Development Strategy (NDS1 2021- 2025).-The Chronicle
