Zimbabwe: Tourism Rakes in Over US$59m

Published by the government of Zimbabwe


The Herald (Harare)

28 November 2007

Harare

The tourism industry has since January earned the country US$59,7 million with safari hunting contributing 36 percent of the earnings, a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe official has said.

RBZ division chief (exchange control) Mr Morris Mpofu said tourism receipts for 2007 were pegged at US$43,9 million while the safari hunting sector generated US$15,8 million, representing 90 percent of the average total earnings expected for the 2007 hunting season.

Mr Mpofu told delegates at the Safari Operators' Association of Zimbabwe annual general meeting in Bulawayo that despite economic challenges facing the country, safari hunting remained crucial in the promotion of tourism as well as generating foreign currency. Statistics given at the AGM showed that receipts from safari hunting dropped by 45 percent between 2004 and 2005 to US$19,1 million.

The sector experienced another marginal decline of one percent last year when US$18,9 million was receipted. "Before the economic downturn in 1997, hunting formed an integral part of the tourism industry and contributed 60 percent of total tourism receipts affirming that tourism is predominantly driven by safari hunting. "To date, the sector has managed to channel in a total of US$15,8 million and this shows that the sector still plays a pivotal role towards foreign currency generation," he said. Mr Mpofu said 109 hunting operators and taxidermists had registered with the exchange control authorities following a directive in January last year, which made it mandatory for all tourism operators to be registered with the RBZ Exchange Control Division.

Meanwhile, safari operators are set to start paying trophy fees in foreign currency after the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority proposed to RBZ that the operators honour trophy fees in foreign currency. An official with the authority told our Bulawayo Bureau that they were waiting for approval from the central bank. "We have written a proposal and sent it to RBZ to allow us to charge safari operators in foreign currency," said the official.

The official said the move was aimed at increasing generation of foreign currency into the country since safari operators were selling trophies in foreign currency.