Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, imposed travel and financial sanctions on Mugabe and senior officials of his ZANU-PF party almost a decade ago over charges of rights abuses and vote rigging.
On Wednesday, the official Herald newspaper said Mugabe, 87, had scrapped a trip to Switzerland for an International Telecommunications Union summit after his wife Grace, Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, chief spokesman George Charamba and three other senior officials were refused travel permits.
Private media in Zimbabwe reported that Mugabe had planned to travel with a 62-member delegation.
The Swiss embassy in Harare confirmed some visa applications had been turned down but declined to comment on charges that Switzerland had adopted the European Union’s position on ZANU-PF although it is not a member of the bloc.