BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Tour companies in Victoria Falls are
counting the costs after the latest lockdown to slow down the spread of
Covid-19 saw both local and international tourists cancelled their bookings.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa imposed a
strict lockdown last month after Zimbabwe was hit by a third wave of the
Covid-19 outbreak.
Clement Mukwasi, Employers Association for
Tours and Safari Operators (EASTSO) president, told VicFallsLive the lockdown
restrictions that include a ban on intercity travel had left tour companies
battling for survival.
“The little candle that had already started
showing itself was immediately blown off and we are in the dark again,” Mukwasi
said.
“It was for a good reason, but we were
plunged into problems as there are no activities and hotel bookings..
“We had significant, but low bookings that
had been registered and they immediately cancelled because of these
restrictions.”
The tourism industry has been operating at
20 percent of its capacity last year and there is no hope of an improvement soon,
Explore Zimbabwe’s Peggie White noted.
“As safari operators doing guided tours
around Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls, the effects of Covid-19 have
been beyond one’s imagination,” White said.
“We thought things were going to be better
after a year and right now we are witnessing many (Covid-19) positive cases
being recorded and people especially those from India and America have
rescheduled and that keeps plunging the destination into uncertainty.
Authorities in the tourism industry say
the country lost more than US$ 1.6 billion worth of revenue in 2020 alone
following the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent border closures.
Zimbabwe’s tourism sector generally brings
in between US$1.5 million and US$ 2 billion annually.
Mukwasi said tour companies were now
shifting their focus to domestic tourism.
“Our focus now has now been at the
domestic tourism more than international tourism because of the new normal that
we are now living in,” he added.
“The restrictions that came as a result of
trying to curb the third wave keep on impacting quite seriously on the industry
as a whole, but we have got some hope that after the lockdown and when more
people have taken the vaccines, we are likely to then see the business starting
to kick again.
“That, however,
should be guided by opening responsibly because vaccines alone will not remove
the scourge.