The world is facing an unprecedented global crisis with the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on every aspect of society on a global scale. The World Health Organisation declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, and they declared it as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The socio economic impact of the virus has been felt across the globe and Zimbabwe has not been exempt. To curb the spread of the corona virus, the Zimbabwean government on 27 March 2020 declared the coronavirus pandemic as a national disaster, introducing a nationwide lockdown. This was a move allowing the government to commandeer State resources towards fighting COVID-19, to use emergency regulations, and to deploy personnel for the same services.
This was promulgated through the Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment ) (National Lockdown Order) 2020 [Chapter 15:17], Statutory Instrument 76 of 202, Statutory Instrument 77 of 2020 and several other statutory instruments meant to regulate the national lockdown and state of disaster. Statutory instruments are subordinate legislation and must be confirmed by Parliament or else they expire. Whether or not the instruments passed to deal with the coronavirus will be confirmed is yet to be known as the pandemic is ongoing and it is uncertain how long the pandemic will last. The impact of the National State of Emergency have been felt in all aspects of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic sphere.
One of the sectors to be severely affected by the pandemic has been the tourism industry. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019 the tourism sector received a total of US$1,25 billion in tourism receipts in 2019, with foreign receipts contributing US$868 million, according to the 2019 Budget and Economic Review Report released by Treasury[2]. Tourism is a key sector for Zimbabwe’s economy, generating an estimated US$1.4 billion (3.3 percent of GDP) in revenue in 2018.[3] As a result of lockdown regulations, there have been booking cancellations. Tour operators and hotels in the resort city of Victoria Falls for instance had reported 80 percent cancellations by early March 2020 and more recently, most hotels have shut down altogether leading to loss of jobs and income.[4] In an unprecedented blow to the tourism sector, the COVID-19 pandemic has cut international tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2020 to a fraction of what they were a year ago due to the fact that boarders and airports have been closed so travel has been suspended, thus impacting tourism in Zimbabwe.
However, Statutory Instrument 208 of 2020, Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (Consolidation and Amendment) (Amendment) Order 2020 (No.1) introduced special provisions for restaurants, hotels and tourism sector. The S.I allows for the reopening of restaurants and national parks and amenities operated by or for the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority for the benefit of domestic tourists and visitors. Further, hunting safari operators have also been allowed to resume operations for professional hunters and customers who are not foreigners with the exception of those already in the country when it was locked down[5]. The statutory instrument further directs restaurants to operate at no more than 50% capacity and for premises to be disinfected regularly, Covid free certificates for all members of staff and regular disinfection of the premises. This is ray of light for operators as resorts can operate albeit at 50% capacity. It is important to note that while it seems the economy is reopening, the pandemic is still present and as such tourism operators must recognise that risk and put in measures to protect their staff and patrons.
Sentiment expressed by the UNWTO Panel of Experts points to a start of the recovery of international demand mostly in 2021. According to Panel Experts from around the world, domestic demand would recover faster than international demand.[6] Considerable challenges remain ahead, starting with the unknown duration of the pandemic and travel restrictions, in a context of global economic recession. Countries around the world are implementing a wide range of measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and to stimulate the recovery of the tourism sector.[7] The future of tourism in Zimbabwe is largely unknown but reopening domestic tourism is a step in the right direction and hopefully will lead to recovery of the tourism sector.
[1] https://zw.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-2/
[2] https://www.ebusinessweekly.co.zw/zims-tourism-receipts-reached-12bln-in-2019/
[3] UNDP : Policy brief : A preliminary assessment of the socio economic impact of Coronavirus (Covid19) on Zimbabwe (1/2020)
[4] Ibid @ 3 above
[5] Statutory Instrument 208 of 2020, Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (Consolidation and Amendment) (Amendment) Order 2020 (No.1)
[6] https://www.unwto.org/impact-assessment-of-the-covid-19-outbreak-on-international-tourism
[7] Ibid at 6 above
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