Zimbabwe Woos Australian Travel Trade
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.
Addressing delegates in Melbourne, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Barbara Rwodzi, positioned tourism as central to the country’s economic ambitions, describing it as a driver of transformation, investment and sustainable development in line with Vision 2030, Zimbabwe’s blueprint for becoming an upper-middle-income economy by the end of the decade.
Australia Identified as a Priority Market
Minister Rwodzi singled out Australia as a strategic, high-value source market for Zimbabwean tourism.
According to figures presented by the Ministry, Australia delivered 33,000 tourist arrivals to Zimbabwe in 2024, dipping to 27,347 in 2025, a fall the Minister used to underline the need to expand Zimbabwe’s market share among Australian travellers rather than rely on existing demand.
She outlined Zimbabwe’s heritage-based approach to tourism development and linked the roadshow to the country’s wider re-engagement agenda, framing tourism as a tool of soft diplomacy.
Summing up the philosophy behind that approach, she told delegates that Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none.
Selling Zimbabwe’s Attractions and Regional Access
The Minister also showcased Zimbabwe’s tourism appeal and regional competitiveness, pointing Australian trade partners to the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA, UniVisa.
The scheme allows travellers to move between Zimbabwe and Zambia on a single visa, with access extended to day trips into Botswana, making it easier to combine Victoria Falls with wildlife excursions across neighbouring parks without the need for separate visa applications at each border.
Minister Rwodzi said government was continuing to invest in road and air infrastructure to improve accessibility to Zimbabwe’s tourist sites and to strengthen the overall visitor experience, from arrival through to departure.
She used the platform to invite Australian travel trade partners to attend the Sanganai/Hlanganani-Dzimbahwe World Tourism Expo, Zimbabwe’s flagship tourism trade fair, which runs from 9 to 12 September 2026.
This year’s edition, the 19th since the expo began, will be hosted in Masvingo province, home to the Great Zimbabwe Monuments, as part of a government policy to rotate the event across the country’s provinces.
Ambassador Reaffirms Bilateral Ties
Welcoming delegates to the roadshow, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Australia, Joe Tapera Mhishi, reaffirmed his country’s commitment to strengthening bilateral relations through tourism.
He linked the initiative to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” policy, which has underpinned the country’s efforts to attract foreign investment and rebuild international trade and travel links since 2018.
Ambassador Mhishi has led Zimbabwe’s mission in Canberra, which is also accredited to New Zealand, since 2019, and has used the posting to push tourism and diaspora investment alongside the country’s broader diplomatic outreach in the region.
Part of a Wider Australian Push
The Melbourne roadshow follows a series of Zimbabwe-Australia engagements this year, including diaspora investment and business forums held in Melbourne and Sydney, suggesting a coordinated effort by Zimbabwean authorities to court both the Australian travel trade and the Zimbabwean diaspora community based there.
For Zimbabwe’s tourism sector, which has posted strong post-pandemic recovery figures driven largely by improved air connectivity, the Australian market represents an opportunity to diversify beyond its traditional source markets in the United States, United Kingdom and continental Europe, particularly as the country prepares to put itself in front of global buyers again at September’s expo in Masvingo.