Victoria Falls tourism on the rebound after easing of restrictions

BY AWAKHIWE KHUMALO

Victoria Falls’ leisure and accommodation facilities recorded 60 percent and above occupancies rates after Zimbabwe started easing of Covid-19 lockdowns last year, it has been revealed.

The resort city’s tourism sector took a battering at the height of the lockdowns, but Employers Association for Tours and Safari Operators president Clement Mukwasi told VicFallsLive that international and local source markets were showing a growing appetite for the city’s tourism offerings.

“After the setbacks suffered under the Covid-19 pandemic domestic tourists have started flocking into the destination,” Mukwasi said

“We also have seen that international tourists have started coming to Zimbabwe, particularly Victoria Falls, and most of them are coming from Europe, United State of America, Australia, and United Kingdom and that is boosting the tourism sector.

“We are moving in the right direction although we are still on the road to recovery although our occupancies at the time are offering above 60 percent of the industry in terms of accommodation occupancies and activity consumption.”

He said companies were looking at clawing back the capital that was lost over the two years during the Covid-19 era.

 “We hope that this course is going to continue until we recover the lost revenue, capital and lost time, but the outlook is quite good,” Mukwasi added.

“We think that if the bookings that are there continue to go by, we are likely going to record 100 percent occupancies during the festive season”

Asian tourists, however, have not started visiting the destination in numbers since the onset of the pandemic, he said.

“We are also hoping that the Chinese and Japanese markets open up so that we get a complete number of arrivals from all countries,” Mukwasi said.

“We also still have concerns about people from Ukraine and Russia because of the post Covid-19 military conflict that is happening there or whatever is happening there, which has made it hard for people from those areas to travel to Victoria Falls.”

He said apart from pristine leisure, conferencing had also given the destination a lift.

“The government is also flexing its muscles and helping the tourism sector in ways that it can and we are hoping that it will continue with its policy of us having zero percent on capital  goods we import as  an industry and the value added tax on the activities we offer as that has been a serious enabler,” Mukwasi said.