Discount transit people in tourism statistics: ZTA

THE country’s tourism industry is not performing well amid revelations that the country’s aggregate hotel occupancy of 52 percent is among the lowest in the region.

In an interview, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke said there was a distortion of arrival figures as counting people in transit as per United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) guidelines was falsifying information.

Mr Kaseke appealed for a change in the way statistics in the sector are collated so as to get a true picture of the sector’s performance.

“In my opinion, it is better to discount transit people as a starting point as they sleep in buses and are only in the country for 24 hours, do not spend a cent and continue to their destinations. Those are the ones we have a problem with,” said Mr Kaseke.

According to the UNWTO, a person who spends 24 hours in a country must be counted as a tourist and ZTA statistics show that Zimbabwe receives about 600-700 000 transit people annually.

Mr Kaseke said the figures were in contrast to the bed nights thus hotel occupancies remain low. He said in general compared to other destinations, the sector was not doing well.

“If we are allowed to change the way we collect statistics, then we are likely to know how we are doing and what needs to be done to improve. At the moment we have no choice but follow suit as every destination uses this method,” he said.

The UNWTO further stipulates that a country’s citizen who leaves their country for a year, upon return is counted as a tourist.

Speaking on the issue of these diasporans, Mr Kaseke said that group of visitors was different as although most of them come into the country to visit relatives and friends, they still spend money in the country.

According to Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe Victoria Falls chapter chairperson Mr Chris Svova there were a lot of challenges impacting negatively on occupancies hence the low occupancy rates.

“There have been a lot of factors working against our efforts to increase traffic into our resort. The many police roadblocks on our highways are a threat to the inbound numbers we want to achieve. Then there is the current cash crisis which lowers disposable income,” he said.

Mr Svova said for the resort town to do well, occupancies upward of 60 percent were needed for sustainability. He said if all barriers are removed, inflows will be enhanced.