Vic Falls City Council works on mixed commercial masterplan

BESIDES teaching people to be hygienic, the global Covid-19 pandemic brought a painful lesson to diversify the economy and not put one’s eggs in one basket.

The country’s prime tourism destination of Victoria Falls is a perfect example where Covid-19 literally grounded business, thereby affecting livelihoods.

The city was almost 100 percent dependent on tourism, a booming industry before Covid-19.

Since the outbreak of the disease, residents lost buying power while tourism operators and hoteliers lost business.

This has had a huge bearing on the local authority which is constantly at loggerheads with ratepayers for failing to pay bills.

Residents and business want the council to reduce its rates while the council claims this will ground service delivery.

To survive, the Victoria Falls City Council is working on a mixed commercial masterplan where it seeks to diversify its economy.

“Food outlets, hotels and other tourism related products have gone on a shut down and that affected households’ ability to pay their monthly obligations and other essential services. Households have of late been hit hard by Covid-19 because we rely mainly on tourism.

“We are greatly exposed because we were mainly depending on external market which is people-driven but not physical product-driven and therefore, as a local authority overseeing such a mono economy with one product forming the backbone has made us very conscious that we need to have a multifaceted economy that can sustain itself even in times of pandemics,” said the city’s public relations and economic development officer Mr Ngqabutho Moyo in an interview.

He said the local authority is working on a number of projects including coming up with a masterplan working together with a number of stakeholders such as Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Hwange Rural District Council and Fuller Forest.

“Our idea is to plan our growth with Victoria Falls being the epicentre of development going outwards. Currently we don’t have a masterplan and there is a local and a spatial development plan that is being considered for funding by council, local Government and other international players who have indicated intentions to fund the same.

“We have got a mixed commercial use project that is coming up which is going to help us diversify the product of the town by bringing in conferencing, full time conventions and other new products because our idea is to make this destination a fun destination and not a traditional destination where you only come to see the Falls and animals. We want it to be 24/7 events-based. We also look forward to doing industrial parks and other new hotel related brands that are going to bring in different market needs as we try to promote a certain level of industry,” said Mr Moyo.

He said hopes were high for Victoria Falls to regain its position as the best destination post-Covid-19, and restore resident’s and business’ buying power so they meet their obligations to council. —chronicle.cl.zw