BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Hotels in Victoria Falls have started registering an uptick in bookings after the government opened the borders close to the resort city to tourists that have taken the Covid-19 vaccine.
The government recently re-opened Kazungula and Victoria Falls land borders for the first time since the beginning of the year following a Covid-19 vaccination blitz targeting the country’s prime resort city.
Although the Victoria Falls International Airport has remained open for international tourists, the closure of land borders had resulted in a huge drop in arrivals.
Anald Musonza, Hotels Association of Zimbabwe’s chairperson for the Matabeleland North chapter, said hotels had started to see an increase in reservations and inquiries.
“We have seen some improvements over the last seven days, and we are grateful as hoteliers for this decision by the government because it allows us to increase the use of our tourist products,” Musonza said.
“These inquiries that they are making give us some hope that in the end hoteliers will be able to resume and employment will be created again.
“According to our estimated figures, 50 per cent of the association workers lost their jobs, and these were our skilled and long serving people and that’s devastating.
“The other 50 percent were people, who went on unpaid leave while others are working reduced hours as low as two hours per day, instead of the normal eight.
“So our hope is that these normal shifts will be retained and even our procuring suppliers will also be able to resume so this decision is to an advantage to a chain of businesses normal.”
Musonza said the opening of land borders would give tourists the opportunity to sample tourism products at cheaper costs.
“Tourism on land makes it easier for our guests, who prefer connecting from Zambia in Livingstone to here in Victoria Falls and Botswana in Kasane and it also allows them to explore and connect the three countries in a way that’s affordable too,” he said.
There is no mandatory quarantine for tourists arriving in Zimbabwe, except for travellers arriving or transiting through India, the government said on June 29.
All other Zimbabwe land borders remain closed, except for transportation of goods and for returning residents.
Restaurants in Victoria Falls have also been re-opened for eat-in service under strict adherence to Covid-19 regulations.
Musonza said hoteliers were closely monitored by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) to ensure they adhere to World Health Organisation regulations to control the spread of Covid-19 such as maintaining social distancing, wearing a mask in public and practicing personal hygiene.
According to the ZTA, the country lost about US$ 1.6 billion worth of revenue in 2020 alone after international travel was curtailed to curb the spread of Covid-19.