Zimbabwe will soon be introducing a new visa management system to allow Chinese visa applicants to apply online instead of at the embassy in Beijing. This is according to a statement by Zimbabwe’s Principal Director of the Department of Immigration, Clemence Masango, at the China International Travel Mart in Shanghai last week. Previously, Chinese travellers could only apply for visas at the centralised Zimbabwean Embassy in Beijing.
Masango was quoted in local newspapers as saying: "While we recorded 30 000 Chinese arrivals in 2011, this new system should see a marked increase in arrivals from 2013 onwards. We have already tried and tested the system with two countries so far, and it has proved to work effectively."
Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, also announced in his 2013 National Budget last week that the government was planning to engage friendly countries for visa realignment methods and agreements on flexible visa regimes to attract visitors into Zimbabwe. He said stringent visa requirements were a stumbling block to the destination marketing drive.
Dorine Reinstein
