Zimbabwe Is Boosting Tourism Despite Its Ravaged Economy
Photo Credit: Singita's Pamushana lodge in Zimbabwe is showing how donations and tourism can create a net positive experience and provide the right context for enlightened conservation. Singita
Skift Take
If you're reading the papers, Zimbabwe's economy looks like a disaster from the outside. But it offers one of the most interesting tourism experiences in Africa at the moment, and intrepid travelers have taken note.
On Experience
Colin Nagy is a marketing strategist and writes on customer-centric experiences and innovation across the luxury sector, hotels, aviation, and beyond. You can read all of his writing here.
Glance through the pages of the Financial Times and you'll see a story familiar to Zimbabwe’s recent history: hyperinflation.
The latest round is seeing consumer goods surge in prices. Shops have run out of staples, and peer-to-peer transactions are demanding U.S. dollars for everything out of fear of further devaluation of the national currency.
For 20 years following its independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was Africa’s most prosperous country and a frontrunner for Africa’s favorite tourist destination. But the country has certainly not had it easy over the past several decades: there’s been a history of genocide, corrupt politicians trashing the economy, with previously thriving industries torn to tatters: tourism included. In the 1990’s, the country welcomed around 1.5 million guests a year, but with mismanagement came attrition, and guests looking elsewhere on the continent.
There’s not a lot of global capital coming to the rescue, either. According to The Economi
