By Tirivanhu Kateera
The latest rating saw Zimbabwe being elevated to Level 1,
which consists of countries regarded as having the lowest COVID-19 risk for
travellers, up from Level 4, which is "Very High" risk.
Earlier this year, the United States of America warned its
citizens not to travel much, designating multiple countries, Zimbabwe included,
in the "Very High Risk" category.
Explaining how it came up with the latest updated list, the
CDC said:
"Primary and secondary criteria used to determine
Travel Health Notice levels were updated to better differentiate countries with
severe outbreak situations from countries with sustained, but controlled,
Covid-19 spread."
In its changes, the CDC moved 58 countries out of Level 4,
the "Do Not Travel" list, and designating them under Level 3, the
"Reconsider Travel" destinations. Zimbabwe was one of 34 countries
moved to the "Low" Covid-19 level.
Under Zimbabwe's Level 1, the US only urged travellers to
"make sure you are fully vaccinated before travelling to these
destinations."
The other SADC countries in the low category are Malawi and
Mozambique. Zambia is in Level 2 (moderate) while South Africa is classified
under Level 3 (high).
The US CDC's revision of the country's travel safety rating
to Level 1 is a welcome development as it has potential to expedite the
resuscitation of the local tourism sector post Covid-19.
CDC's latest classification is a direct response to the New
Dispensation's well calculated and packaged Covid-19 response strategy which
has become the envy of both friends and foes.
No doubt, this is an endorsement of the country's efforts in
reducing the spread of the pandemic and will inspire confidence among tourists
planning to visit Zimbabwe now or in future.
It is also important to highlight that countries in the
Americas are Zimbabwe's largest tourist source market contributing 101 156
tourists in 2019 down from 120,313 in 2018.
This endorsement by CDC is likely to push up tourist
arrivals from the Americas in 2021 and beyond; this is what the sector has been
waiting for especially the City of Victoria Falls.
Apart from the Americas; other source markets such as Asia,
the Middle East and Europe will be equally motivated to visit Zimbabwe in light
of the latest CDC travel advisory and enjoy the country's star attractions such
as the Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park, Mana Pools, Kariba and Great
Zimbabwe Monuments.
Tourism experts postulate that whatsoever benchmarks used by
the CDC to rank the countries, it is in the middle of Covid-19 vaccination
program, if another assessment is to be made at the quarter mark, Zimbabwe
might be declared COVID-19 free.
Government has locally mobilised adequate resources to
bankroll the on-going mass vaccination programme with the country's border
towns being prioritised, since residents there are at high risk as they are
largely dependent on economic activities related to cross-border trade and
tourism.
Targeted towns included Victoria Falls, Plumtree and
Beitbridge as part of efforts to attain 60 percent herd immunity for Zimbabwe.
To reap maximum benefits from the recent development,
tourism players and government must continue to work in cahoots to improve
service delivery, attract more direct flights into Zimbabwe and intensify
marketing of destination Zimbabwe ahead of other regional countries which have
been placed in high risk category.
The message all Zimbabweans and visitors alike should
comprehend at this juncture is that; vaccination is the only sure way to return
to normalcy and they should not tire to follow World Health Organisation
Covid-19 guidelines to consolidate achievements to date.
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