The United States has confirmed its place as Zimbabwe’s most important source of overseas visitors, with new figures showing a dramatic rise in American arrivals over the past four years.

Tourist numbers from the US climbed from 18,756 in 2021 to 109,959 in 2025, according to figures released by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).

The Victoria Falls Rainforest has reopened to the public after a brief closure prompted by elephants entering the site, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has confirmed.

ZimParks said the closure, introduced earlier as a precautionary safety measure, lasted approximately two and a half hours.

Air Zimbabwe has resumed direct flights between Harare and London, ending a 14-year absence from a route once considered the backbone of the airline’s long-haul network.

The relaunch, marked by a reception and launch ceremony at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport under the banner “Fly Direct, Experience Zimbabwe,” restores a link to a market that officials describe as central to the country’s tourism ambitions.

Access to the Victoria Falls Rainforest has been temporarily suspended after wildlife officials reported an elephant moving through the site, prompting an immediate public notice from the country’s parks authority.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) said on Tuesday that the restriction was introduced as a precautionary step to protect visitors, staff and the animal itself, and to lower the risk of any confrontation between people and wildlife.

Zimbabwe’s banking and hospitality sectors have come together to work out how to fund a rapid upgrade of the country’s tourism infrastructure, as the country prepares to permanently host the Intra-African Trade Fair from 2029.

The Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) took part in the inaugural, two-day Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Bankers Conference, held under the theme “Connecting Capital to Capacity: Unlocking Zimbabwe’s Tourism Potential Ahead of Hosting the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2029.”

Zimbabwe has stepped up its push into the Australian travel market, bringing more than 40 tour wholesalers, tour operators and travel agencies together in Melbourne for a roadshow aimed at deepening trade partnerships and unlocking new tourism business between the two countries.

The Zimbabwe Australia Roadshow 2026 forms part of a broader Southern African drive to win over long-haul markets such as Australia and New Zealand, which have increasingly been targeted by African destinations keen to tap into demand from Australian travellers for multi-generational safaris and combined Africa-Europe itineraries.

Zimbabwe has announced plans to relocate a limited number of selected plains game species to Equatorial Guinea as part of a government-to-government conservation partnership designed to restore wildlife populations and strengthen biodiversity in the Central African nation.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) confirmed the initiative in a statement issued on 8 July 2026, saying the operation follows a formal request from the Government of Equatorial Guinea for technical assistance in rebuilding wildlife populations within its protected areas.

Zimbabwe has marked a major conservation milestone with the return of black rhinos to Matusadona National Park, a move hailed as one of the country’s most significant wildlife restoration achievements in recent decades.

The historic translocation operation, led by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), Matusadona National Park and conservation organisation African Parks, signals a new chapter for one of Zimbabwe’s most important protected areas.

The future of global tourism is being shaped by emerging destinations — and Zimbabwe is making clear it intends to lead from the front.