Festive season bookings rejuvenate tourism sector
THE country’s tourism sector is poised for brisk business this coming festive season as evidenced by growing interest in bookings for leisure activities, which would help businesses recover from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
November is historically a low season month in terms of bookings but there are signs of better fortunes moving into December and the Christmas and New Year holidays as hoteliers and operators are getting new enquiries and bookings.
In the absence of international travellers, the industry was supported by domestic tourism, mainly in the form of meetings and conferences.
Industry leaders say the sector is slowly regaining confidence as travellers start trickling in following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.
Zimbabwe is on Level 2 lockdown, which has increased operating hours and relaxed inter-city travel restrictions.
This is good news for the tourism sector, which had literally closed and suffered heavy job losses as there were no international travellers.
Hotels in Victoria Falls, for instance, have recorded the highest occupancies since the relaxation of restrictions. Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) chair for Matabeleland North, Mr Anald Musonza, said there was growing interest for travel and tour activities this coming festive season compared to last year.
“The recovery has been slow but we have seen some solid indicators that 2022 will be stronger than 2019 as the base year. The festive season has also seen some very encouraging uptake of accommodation and better occupancies than last year,” he said.
Chief executive of Africa Albida Tourism (AAT), Mr Ross Kennedy, said one of the company’s properties, Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, last month recorded its highest occupancies since the outbreak of Covid-19 in March last year.
“Occupancy across Africa Albida Tourism’s (AAT) Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, Victoria Falls Safari Club and Victoria Falls Safari Suites’ 98 rooms reached 33 percent in October, with some other hotels in Victoria Falls reporting similar occupancies,” he said.
Mr Kennedy said the average monthly occupancies across AAT’s three properties was this year about 16 percent while bookings for December are at 45 percent and indications are that the percentage is likely to increase.
“The forward booking pattern seems positive at this time and from the second quarter of 2022 onwards there appears to be real momentum building.”
Mr Kennedy said there were many factors at play across all source markets, which cannot be taken for granted in an ever-changing extremely competitive environment.
“We are seeing a trend of many more late bookings with guests from local, regional and international markets,” he said.
The industry has said length of stay in the last six months has also changed with clients staying longer than before which showed renewed interest and new trends in travel and hospitality.
Close to 100 percent of tourism industry workers have been vaccinated, with AAT, which operates a portfolio of properties in Victoria Falls having 96 percent ot its staff vaccinated.
Victoria Falls city was the first to reach herd immunity following roll-out of the vaccination exercise early this year. There is also growing interest by international airlines to fly into Victoria Falls. — The Chronicle
