Victoria Falls does it again
A NEW study has rated Victoria Falls as the third ‘must-visit’ natural wonder in the world as the country’s prime tourism destination continues to attract global attention.
Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. In its latest study, Titan Travel has rated the World Heritage Site, comprising the world’s biggest falling blanket of water across the Zambezi River, its meandering gorges, and a national park, among the top three sites to visit by tourists in the whole world.
The rating follows research by experts at Titan Travel who looked into the popularity of world-famous natural wonders on social media platforms and other search engines including Tripadvisor.
Arches National Park in Utah, United States was adjudged the most popular site and natural wonder of the world, with an overall wonder score of 8,29 out of 10, followed by the Iguazu Falls spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil, with an overall wonder score of 8.19 out of 10.
Victoria Falls came third with 8,14 points out of 10, leveraging on its waterfall across the river, which forms an awe-inspiring natural border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls scored more than 2,5 million views over the last 12 months. Table Mountain in South is the only other Africa natural wonder to make it to top 10 at 5th position with a wonder score of 7,67 points out of 10. In 4th place is Grand Canyon of America on 7,91 points out of 10.
Other natural wonders making it into top 10 are Matterhorn of Switzerland, Mount Enerest in Nepal, Great Barrier Reef of Australia, Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, Angel Falls in Venezuela, and Milford South in New Zealand, which had 6,52 points and ranked number 10 at the bottom.
The study also captured the percentage of excellent and terrible reviews, with the highest scoring 91 percent and 0,11 percent for excellent and terrible reviews, respectively.
The researchers said while there are several spectacular man-made sights like the Egyptian Pyramids, Machu Picchu or the Great Wall of China for people to visit, the natural wonders remain less explored yet they are filled with awe.
Victoria Falls beat the world’s most overrated natural wonder Lake Nakuru in Kenya, which only managed 1,38 out of 10 and only 49,12 percent reviews and not in top 10.
The ratings, however, varied according to individual social media platforms being google, TikTok, and Tripadvisor. Just a few weeks ago, Victoria Falls Hotel and Matetsi Game Reserve were voted among the top five facilities in Africa through rankings based on the Travel + Leisure Readers’ views.
According to Travel + Leisure readers, Southern Africa is home to the continent’s best resort hotels, from the winelands of South Africa to Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls to the expansive Namib Desert of Namibia.
Commenting on this, Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe national president Mr Farai Chimba who is also Victoria Falls Hotel general manager said there was a need for the tourism industry to leverage on the recognition and offer top-notch services to meet standards.
“We need to now leverage on this by ensuring our delivery meets expectations from ports of entry to establishments meeting final visitor,” he said.
Mr Chimba called for the enhanced promotion of Great Zimbabwe as one of the potential man-made wonders that can attract world attention.
“While we have Victoria Falls, our least spoken about and visited asset is Great Zimbabwe. This is certainly one of the man-made wonders outside of the pyramids in Africa,” he said.
“With the rise in cultural tourism and experiential travel, we need diversified product offerings that will help achieve a US$5 billion tourism economy by 2025.”— chronicle.o.zw
