Tourism stocks thrive on the ZSE

THE revival of Zimbabwe’s tourism sector is paying off for investors after listed hospitality counters enjoyed considerable gains on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) last year.
Local equities firm IH Securities’ (IH) Tourism Index as at the end of the first quarter of 2019 shows that the sector, which had aggregated year-on-year gains of 231,15 percent, was the best performer on the market. In contrast, the All Share Index gained 35,45 percent during the same period.
This comes as the tourism sector is estimated to have grossed more than the targeted aggregate revenue of $1 billion in 2018, up from the $967 million recorded in 2017.
“The surge in the tourism sector was largely driven by local tourists who had additional disposable income as a result of heightened economic activity and limited access to forex to travel outside the country,” IH said in a note recently.
“African tourists have been key to tourism growth, however, there has been a paradigm shift as we have seen Asian and European tourists increasing while African tourist growth remained relatively subdued.
“Infrastructural refurbishments including the Victoria Falls International airport, commissioned in November 2016 have also been instrumental in improving accessibility,” the advisory firm said.
Total annual tourist arrivals in 2018 are estimated to reach 2,70 million, up by 11,4 percent from 2,42 million in 2017.
“The elections provided an additional boon to tourism as increased political activity led to improved hotel occupancy. Furthermore, arrivals and occupancies in 2018 were also stimulated by the advent of international observers from the region and the EU during the election period, which boded well for the sector,” I