Zimbabwe, Zambia to launch pilot uni-visa

The government will launch a pilot uni-visa agreement with Zambia at the end of this month to enable t joint marketing as the two countries make initiatives to boost tourist arrivals.

The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Walter Mzembi, said the launch of the pilot Zimbabwe-Zambia uni-visa will open up the country's borders and offer an opportunity to market shared national heritage which is expected to boost tourist arrivals for both countries.

"Tourism is measured by arrivals and I am pleased to announce that we will be launching a uni-visa pilot project by the end of this month to ensure that there are increased tourist arrivals.

"For the SADC region we have not launched it owing to security concerns being raised by some countries but those in the eastern part of the continent have benefitted immensely form the uni-visa regime," he said.

The proposal for a uni-visa regime has been on the cards for a long time and the coming to fruition of the pilot project is set to compel other countries in the region to come on board.

The launch of the pilot uni-visa regime comes at a time there is huge expectations from the tourism industry which has become one of the pillars of the economy.

The government is targeting five million tourist arrivals by 2020 with expected earnings of five billion dollars annually through implementing the open skies policy.