The revenue from the the tourism industry was low in the years after the pandemic. Recently, the travel restrictions were lifted worldwide and as a result, the industry’s revenue has gone up drastically.

Tourist arrivals have more than doubled to 895,338 last year, from 340,000 in 2021, a rebound of over 160 percent.

Speaking at a tourism workshop in the city of Gweru in central Zimbabwe, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Mangaliso Ndhlovu said the government was coming up with a national tourism policy to cement the industry’s recovery and guide its future development.

He said tourism is a low-hanging fruit for the country, which was important in terms of foreign currency generation and employment.

Tourism was one of the worst affected industries by COVID-19.

Ndhlovu called for more investment in the industry and stressed the importance of developing a wide variety of tourism products to broaden the country’s appeal as a destination to the world.

Investments in the sector rose 239 percent to 306.7 million U.S. dollars last year from 90.4 million dollars in 2021.

“As we engage in these strategic sessions, special attention must be placed on how to leverage our competitive advantages to market tours that promote (the) culture and heritage of the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.