Zimbabwe: is it time for tourists to return?

21.07.2023 - 08:47 / roughguides.com / Keith Drew

Zimbabwe is back on the tourist map. But should you go? Rough Guides Managing Editor Keith Drew explains why this is one country that deserves another chance.

Zimbabwe's fall from grace has been spectacular. Once the pride of the Southern Africa safari circuit, the country has become better known in recent years for its controversial politics and disastrous economy. But things are looking up.

The hosting of the UN World Tourism Organization’s general assembly in Victoria Falls in 2013 kick-started tourism to the region. The opening of the new Victoria Falls International Airport late last year has pushed things even further forward. More and more tour operators are showing confidence in the country by adding Zimbabwe to their itineraries, and visitor numbers are on the rise.

So, should you be joining them? Visiting Zimbabwe is not a decision to be taken lightly. But decide to go, and it’s one that you will never regret. This is a country whose cultural history takes in ancient rock art and huge palaces made of stone. In Hwange, it boasts one of Africa's great game parks; in the Matobo Hills, it can lay claim to some of the region's most striking landscapes.

But above all, Zimbabwe is home to a welcoming, friendly, downtrodden but determined people that are desperate to show you what their country is really like.

© paula french/Shutterstock

Zimbabwe’s notorious president, 93-year-old Robert Mugabe, is one of the most controversial figures in African politics. In power for 37 years and counting, his leadership has taken what was once one of Africa's most diversified economies to the edge of oblivion.

Severe droughts, the effects of a catastrophic land-reform programme (the infamous farm invasions) and gross economic mismanagement have all taken their toll along the way. Zimbabwe is currently in debt to a tune of $11 billion.

Latest figures put the unemployment rate at around 95 percent. The majority of villagers get by on subsistence farming, and in some rural areas a staggering 96 percent of people live below the poverty line.

But the times are (slowly) changing. The new constitution that came into effect in 2013 curbed the president's powers, set a two-term limit for his office and established a number of groundbreaking national and provincial bodies, including the independent Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.

Political dissent is alive and well. Pastor Evan Mawarire's #ThisFlag campaign sparked nationwide protests when it was launched last year and opposition to the ruling ZANU-PF party is stronger than it has been for years, with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and former vice-president Joice Mujuru recently forming an alliance to contest next year’s general election.

As a tourist, you won't really experience