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Tourism Trends Statistics Report 2022
Tourism Trends Statistics Report 2022
Tourism Trends Statistics Report 2022
DEFINITIONS .................................. 2
ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS ..... 3
GLOBAL ECONOMIC OVERVIEW .... 4
GLOBAL TOURIST ARRIVALS.......... 5
NATIONAL ECONOMIC OVERVIEW . 6
TOURISM OVERVIEW IN ZIMBABWE 7
ANALYSIS OF TOURIST ARRIVALS.. 12
Tourist Arrivals by Purpose of Visit . 14
Tourist Arrivals by Mode of Transport 15
ACCOMMODATION UTILIZATION STATISTICS 16
Hotel Accommodation Utilization ..... 17
Lodge Accommodation Utilization .... 21
DOMESTIC TOURISM STATISTICS .. 25
ARRIVALS INTO NATIONAL PARKS . 26
ARRIVALS INTO NATIONAL MUSEUMS & MONUMENTS 28
CONCLUSION ................................. 29
Annexure 1: Tourist Arrivals by Source Market 30
Annexure 2: Top Markets ................ 33
Annexure 3: Hotel Accommodation Statistics 34
2
DEFINITIONS
For reasons of comparability and consistency the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority uses
International definitions as given by the United Nations World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO). Some of the definitions used are:
Tourist: is a traveler who takes an overnight trip outside his/her usual environment,
for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal
purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place
visited.
Same–day Visitor: A visitor who does not spend a night in a collective or private
accommodation in the country visited.
Arrivals: All data refer to arrivals and not actual number of people traveling. One person
visiting the same country several times during the year is counted each time as
a new arrival. Likewise, the same person visiting several countries during the
same trip is counted each time as a new arrival.
ABBREVIATIONS & 3
ACRONYMS
Source: IMF
• Travel propensity and the growth of the tourism sector often mirrors the state of
the economy.
• The IMF recorded global growth of 3.6% in 2022 as the world recovered from COVID-
Source: UNWTO
3.2 % as the country recovered from the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic.
treasury.
• The annual inflation rate dropped from 255% to 243% and this drop was largely
fluctuations.
TOURISM OVERVIEW IN 7
ZIMBABWE
8
• Total tourist arrivals rose by 174% in 2022 compared to 2021 as the global travel and
• All markets more than doubled their 2021 levels with most overseas markets even
• The current trajectory points to a quick recovery in tourism performance, much more
than had been predicted. The international tourist arrival figure edged towards half
of the 2019 level (2,294,259), although still 55% below the pre-COVID level.
9
• The national average room occupancy rose from 20% to 44% reaching the pre-
COVID levels.
• The average room occupancies for the review period presented continuous positive
results since the beginning of the year, a sure indication that the tourism sector is
• The sector is estimated to have generated about US$911 million during the
• Although the current receipts are still about 37% less than the year 2019,
• The rise in tourism receipts reflects the increased domestic tourism demand
• New projects recorded in the tourism sector are quite encouraging as this is a
• The restaurant subsector had the highest absolute increase in new investment
• A total of 2358 jobs were created through the investments compared to 2016
new jobs in 2021.
ANALYSIS OF TOURIST 12
ARRIVALS
• Contrary to the year 2021 which started off under strict Covid 19 lockdown
following the emergence of the delta variant, 2022 was free from lockdowns.
• Arrivals in 2022 generally rose by each quarter peaking during the third
quarter as is expected in a normal year.
**For detailed arrivals by quarter and source region see Annexure 1
13
• The overseas share rose by 5 percentage points while that for Africa shrunk by the
same margin as tourist arrivals from the overseas markets rose at a much stronger
rate than those from Africa.
• Arrivals from Africa continue to dominate Zimbabwe’s inbound tourism with a share
of 66%.
• Europe (17%) and the Americas continue to be the biggest contributors of overseas
tourist arrivals.
14
• Generally, numbers of arrivals by all purposes rose during the period under review.
• Unlike the pre-COVID case where visitors transiting through the country normally
• Transits have even gone down from 38% of all arrivals in 2021.
15
• Arrivals by both land and air more than doubled with arrivals by land nearly
• Feedback from operators indicated that the rise in occupancies was driven by
• Most of the MICE business in the regions came from corporate, NGO, and
exhibitions in the country: the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) and
• For Harare region, Major MICE events included ZANU PF's 7th National
Monthly Trend for Average Hotel Room Occupancy January to December 2022/21
• The above trend shows that the 2022 national average occupancy levels were
greater than those of 2021 for all months.
• Unlike 2021 which experienced lockdowns, in 2022 everything had
normalized.
2022 unlike in 2021 where the first quarter and the third quarter were
• The normal trend often rises from the first quarter which is the trough
• In the year 2022, the national lodge average room occupancies closed at 32%
up from 22% in 2021.
• All the regions managed to record occupancies of 23% and above in 2022
Victoria Falls 29 381 30% 10% 20% 52% 48% 82% 18%
• Bulawayo saw the third highest growth, with domestic leisure travel
accounting for 96% of clientele.
• MICE business also brought in additional demand during major events such as
the ZITF.
Lockdown
• The above trend shows general growth in average occupancies from January to
December 2022.
• In 2021 the occupancy rates dipped in June and July as strict COVID lockdown
measures were imposed.
DOMESTIC TOURISM 24
STATISTICS
2022 2021
Business and Professional 1,473,066 824,878
Leisure 932,942 522,422
VFR 4,124,584 2,309,656
Funeral/wedding 994,320 556,792
Convention/conference/congress/ exhibition
49,102 27,496
Education and Training 220,960 123,732 79%
Health and medical care 613,778 343,699
Shopping 1,620,372 907,365
Religious/Pilgrimage 773,360 433,061
Other 1,460,791 818,004
Not Stated Total 12,276 6,874
TOTAL 12,275,551 6,873,979
Source: ZTA: Based on DOTS weights and indicative change in domestic tourism demand
• About 12.3 million domestic trips are estimated to have been made throughout
the country y all purposes in 2022 up from about 6.9 million in 2021.
• All in all domestic trips rose by 79% during the period under review.
DOMESTIC TOURISM 25
STATISTICS
Source: Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management (ZIMPARKS), National Museums & Monuments (NMMZ)
• Domestic entries into national parks rose by 87% while those into national
museums and monuments increased by 210%.
• All in all domestic entries into the national parks and museums rose by 107%
from 301 879 to 626 118 in 2022.
ARRIVALS INTO NATIONAL 26
PARKS
• The total entry figure was 683,930 which represents a 139% increase from
286,344 in 2021
• Domestic entries into national parks rose by 87% from 251,088 to 468,694 in
2022 while entries by foreign visitors rose by 510% from a mere 35,256 to 215,236
as international travel recovers.
27
• The Rainforest and Zambezi the most visited parks by both the domestic and
foreign visitors.
• Both parks are in the Victoria Falls area.
• These national parks combined contribute over half (53%) of all the national parks
entries.
• Domestic entries dominate all national parks with the exception of the Rainforest
which attracts more international visitors.
ARRIVALS INTO NATIONAL 28
MUSEUMS & MONUMENTS
• Total entries into Museums and Monument increased by 217% in the review period.
• Domestic entries rose by 210% while foreign entries rose by 870%.
While the country, and the world at large, continue to recuperate from the negative
effects of COVID 19, hope for a quick full recovery, more than had been previously
anticipated, remains high considering the strong paces recorded in 2022. The
increased growth in global tourist arrivals gives a consoling prospect for the
expected growth in arrivals into the country both from the region and overseas.
The domestic market remains key along with the international arrivals, holding
strong hope for the recovery of the sector. Going forward, the marketing efforts by
ZTA and the tourism industry are expected to go a long way in strengthening the
Clientele Mix
Bed
Capacity Bed Occupancy 2022 2021
Region
% Point
2022 2021 Local Foreign Local Foreign
Change