RTG’s Vic Falls hotels register 13 percent growth
RAINBOW Tourism Group (RTG)’s hotels based in Victoria Falls — a colossal tourist destination — posted a 13 percent revenue growth to $339 000 for the year to June 30, 2017 as the recently unveiled Victoria Falls International Airport continues to hold sway.
President Mugabe commissioned the refurbished Victoria Falls International Airport in November last year, and arrivals have been spiking since then, translating into huge business for hoteliers in the region. The Victoria Falls airport has potential to handle 1,6 million passengers per year, which is 900 000 passengers more than what the Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula (former Livingstone Airport) can handle.
The refreshment of the airport entailed construction of a new four-kilometre runway, making it possible to land wide-bodied, long-haul aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A330. RTG chairman Mr John Chikura says two of their Victoria Falls hotels – the A’Zambezi River Lodge and the Victoria Falls Rainbow Hotel – generated a combined $339 000 increase in revenues compared to the same period last year.
“The performance of the hotels, apart from those in Harare, was a 13 percent growth from $6,3 million last year to $7,1 million this year. The performance of the Harare hotels is recovering following social media attacks in 2016.
“A noticeable growth was recorded in RTG’s Victoria Falls hotels where two hotels posted a 13 percent ($339 000) growth in revenues compared to the same period last year.
“This reflects the huge growth potential the region acquired as a result of increased flight seats in Victoria Falls following the opening of the Victoria Falls Airport in 2016,” said Mr Chikura in a statement accompanying the group’s results for the year to June 2017.
Overall, RTG’s revenues increased by 2 percent from $11,4 million in 2016 to $11, 6 million last year. The growth is attributed to the strong growth registered across all hotels apart from those situated in Harare, which took a knock following negative campaigns on social media platforms. But for the period under review, revenues from foreign guests registered a 9 percent growth to $3,8 million, due to a boost from e-commerce business which spiked 46 percent from $386 000 last year to $562 000.
Uptake of rooms accommodation for the year to June 2017 remained unchanged at 85 000 compared to the same period in 2016. Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) for the first six months of 2017 also remained unchanged at $36. Going forward, RTG expects revenues to rise even further driven by its $900 000 investment in sprucing up its hotels across the country, as part of efforts to make them attractive to the existing and potential market.
The hotel upgrades are funded from internally generated cash flows. So far, the facelift has seen about 50 percent of the 92 rooms at Victoria Falls Rainbow Hotel being renovated. Other hotels are at different levels of completion.–herald
