Summary:
Zimbabwe plans to reopen its border for international travelers, after months of lockdown, to revive its tourism industry.
The country shut down its borders and suspended all the flights in the month of March. Now, the country has decided to restart all the domestic flights on September 10 and international flights on October 1.
By opening the country borders, Zimbabwe hopes to jumpstart tourism. The beautiful African country is home to a number of amazing tourist hotspots such as Victoria Falls, which is also one of the biggest waterfalls in the world and the famous Hwange National Park. All the attractions, hotels, and resorts in the country were shuttered because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said, “It therefore comes as a very welcome decision that Cabinet has allowed all tourism activities that had remained shut down as part of the measures to contain the Coronavirus pandemic, to now resume full operations.”
In addition to this, the country has also allowed the operations of all the prominent outdoor activities including boating, game drives, bungee jumping, and helicopter rides.
However, travelers will have to get tested before arrival and need to have a PCR certificate by a recognised facility. The test must be taken within 48 hours from the date of departure. Till now, Zimbabwe has recorded 7388 COVID-19 cases and 218 deaths.