Thread by @AdamTheofilatos

I recently passed through Victoria Falls international Airport. An Ethiopian Airways flight had landed from Addis Ababa with more than 150 foreign tourists, many on their first trip to Zimbabwe and most with wallets full of USD to spend in Zim.

What I saw shocked me. Thread:

Zimbabwe requires an immigration form to be filled out by all passengers. This was not handed out on the flight and so upon entering the airport, everyone was handed a form and chaos commenced as people shuffled up the stairs, lean against the wall, kneel on the floor as there was nowhere for anyone to fill out a form. People had to borrow pens and immediately the process of getting people through immigration has stalled.

Before anyone was able to line up at immigration desks, the whole flight had to pass by one man. He struggled to contain the crowd as he glanced at every single passengers’ form before allowing them past and into an immigration line.

After finally making it through this painstakingly slow stage, passengers approached the immigration desks. There were 6 desks of which only 2 (and later 3) were manned. By now another flight had arrived and the numbers within the arrivals hall had surpassed 200.

At the front of one of the lines I listened into a conversation with a family from New Zealand and the immigration official. What ensued was what I imagine to be a problem day in and day out at Zimbabwe’s ports of entry. The tourists needed to pay for visas but only EXACT amounts of USD cash is accepted and card machines did not work.

This family was at the front of the line and there were around 80 passengers behind them and this exchange went on for excess of 20 minutes.

The tourists:

• did not have change or sufficient USD
• argued that there is no immigration or government information insisting on exact change and that card machines weren’t an option.
• were not able to pay in other currencies

They were visibly upset and daunted by the process and their first interaction with Zimbabwe and its people was as negative as could be. Fortunately a solution was found when a card machine was located that worked and money was transferred to a card that worked with Zimbabwean banks.

Anyway, my attention then turned to some other interesting activities happening within the arrivals hall. A number of people (non travellers) were moving in and out past the immigration desks. They were all plain clothed and appeared to be tour guides. But seemed to possess some interesting privileges🤔

These people had the power to pick out their selected tourists from the lines and take them right to the front, bypassing all other people. The immigration officers would stop immediately in their tracks and process these applications. In some cases it appeared that visa payments were bypassed too 😦

There is much wrong with the above process, but one thing that occurred to me is how serious a security breach this is. Someone who had free access in and out of immigration also has access to planes etc. I will leave you to come to your own conclusion here.

I have much more to say but I will leave this thread with my final point. The visa process and the time it takes to pass through immigration. We all know that this process can be long in any country, depending on a number of factors such as traffic.

But once you’re at the front of the line, assuming all your ducks are in a row the process should be quick and easy. Zimbabwean immigration does not seem to be taking strides to make this process move quicker. Broken equipment, unenthusiastic officers, dated systems, no chance of pre approved visas make this process slow and Inefficient. This may ultimately be why a tourist decides to go to Zambia in the future.

Tourism is a hustle and a battle with other nations. The country that slacks will be the country that misses out. And we, as a country need tourism desperately.

I hope my thread is seen as enlightening and as a point to improve on. That is all that is intended by it🤓