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Walter Mswazie in Masvingo
THE Great Zimbabwe Monuments in Masvingo have recorded more than 40 000 tourist arrivals since the beginning of the year with an increase of at least 5 000 when compared to the prior year.

According to records, South Africa contributed the largest number of visitors to the historic tourist destination.

National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) provincial director, Mr Lovemore Mandima, attributed the increase in tourist arrivals to the aggressive marketing programmes by Government through the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).

“A total of 42 252 tourists visited the Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site between January and August this year. The figure represents an increase of 5 111 from 37 141 tourist arrivals recorded during the same period last year,” he said.

Mr Mandima revealed that among the arrivals, 4 345 were non-resident tourists compared to last year where 4 304 visited the monuments.

“Most of the foreign tourists are from South Africa, which is the largest source of foreign visitors to the World Heritage Site. We also recorded 37 907 domestic tourists that include schools, which visited the heritage site this year as compared to last year’s 32 837,” he said.

The NMMZ director said school visits had increased given the advent of the revised curriculum, which encourages heritage studies.

He said ZTA and NMMZ exhibited at platforms such as Sanganai/Hlanganani Tourism Expo, Harare Agricultural Show and Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo to showcase these products.

“We also utilise the schools outreach programme where they visit our heritage sites. The Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry also plays a pivotal role in putting our heritage sites on the global map,” said Mr Mandima.

Zimbabwe attracted more than 2,4 million tourist arrivals in 2017, a 12 percent increase from the previous year.

This has been attributed to the hospitable and peaceful environment that the country provides to the visitors.

Government through ZTA has launched a Community Tourism Enterprise Manual and Handbook meant to guide the tourism sector up to 2035. – @walterbmswazie2