Lockdown relaxation excites tourism sector

THE relaxation of travel restrictions is expected to re-ignite domestic tourism and improve business earnings for the travel and leisure sector.

Players in the tourism industry said the restrictions were killing the sector.

The restrictions were meant to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic following a spike in the number of positive cases and deaths.

Tourism was one of the hardest hit industries as hotels and tour operators remained grounded due to suspension of both domestic travel and international flights.

Some workers in the sector have been out of work since March last year.

As Covid-19 cases go down with the country successfully rolling out vaccinations, the tourism industry is warming up for re-opening.

“Domestic tourism should be able to start in earnest as intercity travel has been lifted. We are yet to hear more on the international travel restrictions.

“Partial re-opening of restaurants is a welcome move, we hope to see an increase in business activity in this regard,” Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) spokesperson, Mr Godfrey Koti, said.

He, however, said the industry would do better if restaurants are allowed to serve sit-ins. Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (Haz) Victoria Falls chair Anald Musonza said the tourism and hospitality sector has put all measures in place for a bubble opening.

“The relaxation of lockdown restriction and intercity movement is great news for the tourism and hospitality industry to restart regular operations,” he said.

“We hope the local transport network will also resume movements that bring in tourists locally to Victoria Falls and all our tourist resorts across the country.”

Musonza said there was need to enhance direct flights into Victoria Falls to attract more international clients once cross-border movement is opened.

“We hope the domestic market has the spending power to start travelling. We need to urgently address the issue of direct access to Victoria Falls as we need direct airlines so that the open markets in the region like South Africa could access us and stay in our hotels,” he said.

“The industry had always been ready to welcome guests back and we keep evolving our preparations to make sure all new demands are met.

“We have learnt and solidified Covid-19 protocols as guided by the Government and the World Health Organisation. We need an opportunity to just get back to our feet and do what we are good at to give our guests an exceptional experience all across Zimbabwe.”

Travel agent, Thandiwe Mafa, who operates Minanda Tours said lately they have been getting inquiries from international travelers.

“We have been getting inquiries lately and its clear people are interested in resuming travelling just to get out of the lockdown. We hope the Easter holidays might get us numbers especially if the economy full reopens,” she said.

Tourism trade unionist Edward Dzapasi said workers were keeping their fingers crossed to regain their jobs.

“It’s a good start and some companies are already engaging workers’ committees to revisit employment agreements. However, our disadvantage is that we rely mostly on international travellers hence it might take time for us to really have meaningful business and people get employed once again,” he said.

“Currently, the situation is bad for all workers and companies because the Covid-19 lockdown took longer than expected and it’s already a year since some companies closed.”-ebusinessweekly.c.zw