Abel Ndooka
H-Metro Reporter
THE country’s hospitality industry enjoyed roaring business during the festive season with most of the hotels and related facilities getting an average of over 80 percent occupancy rate.
Between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day most of the hotels, and related facilities, recorded 100 percent occupancy. The Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe said this was a significant surge compared to previous years.
“Occupancy was in excess of 80 percent for the period but, if you look at the major festive days, which is the Christmas Days of December 24 to 26, most properties recorded 100 percent,” HAZ president Brian Nyakutombwa said.
“During that period we also saw high volumes of people going into various properties and the different operators had to come up with various ways to control the traffic, so yes, it was a success.”
Safari operator, Charles Chakanya, said this year’s festive season has been a mixed bag.
“The Diaspora market had suppressed numbers compared to last year but the traditional domestic market, they did come up with their numbers, which was very encouraging,” he said.
“Personally, I can say the business was okay, we realised a slight hike in the number of clients that we normally have on a daily basis compared to the other months.”
Tourism players said there was a need to boost the pace of the rehabilitation of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls and ensure that the traditional end-of-year carnivals should be brought back into the picture.
The Kalawa Homecoming Festival used to be a big thing in Bulawayo at the end of every year but has since disappeared from the radar.
“One setback is still access to Victoria Falls from Bulawayo.
“The road still requires rehabilitation or maintenance.
“If that is fixed earlier, we should see a remarkable increase in visitors to Victoria Falls,” said Chakanya.
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