BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Owners of lodges in Victoria Falls are turning their properties into Covid-19 quarantine centres for travellers after the government introduced tough regulations for people entering the country, which include a 10-day mandatory quarantine.
The measures, which also include mandatory PCR tests on arrival at the traveller’s own cost, came as a severe blow for Zimbabwe’s tourism industry which was beginning to recover from nearly two years of global lockdowns that have disrupted travel.
Initially three lodges had been approved to provide quarantine facilities in Victoria Falls, but communication from the Hwange district medical officer Fungai Musinami’s office seen by VicFallsLive on Wednesday revealed that six more tourist facilities had since been added to the list.
Phezulu Lodge, Shearwater Explorers Village, Zambezi Boutique Lodge, Malachite House, Wallow Lodge, Kamtengo Guest House, Botonka Guest Lodge, ACHM and Pioneers Lodge as well as a private home identified as Malachite now offer quarantine facilities in the resort city.
Malachite, which offers self-catering services charges US$42 a night while the cheapest lodge with approved quarantine facilities in Victoria Falls, which is Shearwater Explorers Village, charges US$65 a room per night.
The Tourism Council of Zimbabwe, which represents tour operators, warned that the quarantine measures will cause significant damage to the country’s tourism industry, which is already facing collapse.
“The leadership of the council is distressed and disappointed that yet another hurdle has been placed in our collective way,” the council said in a statement reacting to the announcement of the measures.
“We will do all we can to resolve this situation so that negative effects are minimised or eliminated.
“We recognise the enormous impact of these decisions on communities, businesses and families, especially at this time of year, which traditionally is a time of family engagement.”
The council urged the government to come up with a better alternative that “minimises the economic impact on our sector while at the same time works towards a stabilisation of the threat to public health.”
“In this regard, we are engaged in discussions with the authorities with a view to having our opinions and advice heard,” it added.
Zimbabwe’s tourism sector is already reeling from travel bans imposed by Western and some African countries on southern Africa after the omicron variant of Covid-19 was first detected in South Africa and Botswana.
Zimbabwe has since recorded cases of the omicron variant, which is believed to be behind the fourth wave of the pandemic.
On Tuesday, the country recorded 4 031 new cases, the highest daily tally since the pandemic began early last year.